New York State Mercury Synthesis: Species Taxonomy

NYSERDA's dataset compiles species information used in a statewide synthesis of environmental mercury concentrations and loads from 1969 to 2017. It provides taxonomic classification and common names for birds and fish studied in New York State. This dataset is one of eight from the broader mercury synthesis effort.

Use Cases

• Analyzing mercury exposure across different trophic levels using the 'TrophicPosition' column.
• Linking common and scientific names for species ('CommonName', 'ScientificName') in environmental studies.
• Filtering mercury data by taxonomic groups such as 'Class', 'Order', or 'Family' for focused ecological analysis.
• Verifying species identity and synonyms ('Synonyms', 'TSN') when merging data from multiple monitoring sources.

Strengths

• Part of a multi-dataset statewide synthesis effort providing structured context for mercury research.
• Includes detailed taxonomic hierarchy columns from 'Phylum' to 'Species' for precise biological classification.
• Compiles data from NYSERDA-sponsored monitoring spanning nearly five decades (1969-2017).

Limitations

• Key metadata such as row count, dataset size, and license information is unavailable across all sources.
• The dataset contains only species reference information, not the actual mercury concentration measurements.

Provenance

Source

New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA).

Collection Method

Compilation and synthesis of existing data from NYSERDA-sponsored monitoring and research efforts.

Time Range

1969-2017

Freshness

2026-04-04 23:13:22.260660

Geography

New York State