Whole-ecosystem study shows rapid fish-mercury response to changes in mercury deposition

被引:367
作者
Harris, Reed C.
Rudd, John W. M.
Amyot, Marc
Babiarz, Christopher L.
Beaty, Ken G.
Blanchfield, Paul J.
Bodaly, R. A.
Branfireun, Brian A.
Gilmour, Cynthia C.
Graydon, Jennifer A.
Heyes, Andrew
Hintelmann, Holger
Hurley, James P.
Kelly, Carol A.
Krabbenhoft, David P.
Lindberg, Steve E.
Mason, Robert P.
Paterson, Michael J.
Podemski, Cheryl L.
Robinson, Art
Sandilands, Ken A.
Southworth, George R.
Louis, Vincent L. St.
Tate, Michael T.
机构
[1] R&K Res Inc, Salt Spring Isl, BC V8K 2J3, Canada
[2] Tetra Tech Inc, Oakville, ON L6J 4E6, Canada
[3] Univ Montreal, Dept Biol Sci, Montreal, PQ H3C 3J7, Canada
[4] Univ Wisconsin, Environm Chem & Tech Program, Madison, WI 53706 USA
[5] Fisheries & Oceans Canada, Inst Freshwater, Winnipeg, MB R3T 2N6, Canada
[6] Penobscot River Mercury Study, Salt Spring Isl, BC V8K 2W5, Canada
[7] Univ Toronto, Dept Geog, Mississauga, ON L5L 1C6, Canada
[8] Smithsonian Environm Res Ctr, Edgewater, MD 21037 USA
[9] Univ Alberta, Dept Biol Sci, Edmonton, AB T6G 2E9, Canada
[10] Univ Maryland, Chesapeake Biol Lab, Ctr Environm Sci, Solomons, MD 20688 USA
[11] Trent Univ, Dept Chem, Peterborough, ON K9J 7B8, Canada
[12] US Geol Survey, Middleton, WI 53562 USA
[13] Oak Ridge Natl Lab, Oak Ridge, TN 37831 USA
[14] Univ Connecticut, Dept Marine Sci, Groton, CT 06340 USA
[15] Canadian Forest Serv, Sault Ste Marie, ON P6A 5M7, Canada
关键词
bioaccumulation; mercury methylation; stable isotopes; whole-ecosystem experimentation; methylmercury;
D O I
10.1073/pnas.0704186104
中图分类号
O [数理科学和化学]; P [天文学、地球科学]; Q [生物科学]; N [自然科学总论];
学科分类号
07 ; 0710 ; 09 ;
摘要
Methylmercury contamination of fisheries from centuries of industrial atmospheric emissions negatively impacts humans and wildlife worldwide. The response of fish methylmercury concentrations to changes in mercury deposition has-been difficult to establish because sediments/soils contain large pools of historical contamination, and many factors in addition to deposition affect fish mercury. To test directly the response of fish contamination to changing mercury deposition, we conducted a whole-ecosystem experiment, increasing the mercury load to a lake and its watershed by the addition of enriched stable mercury isotopes. The isotopes allowed us to distinguish between experimentally applied mercury and mercury already present in the ecosystem and to examine biclaccumulation of mercury deposited to different parts of the watershed. Fish methylmercury concentrations responded rapidly to changes in mercury deposition over the first 3 years of study. Essentially all of the increase in fish methylmercury concentrations came from mercury deposited directly to the lake surface. In contrast, < 1% of the mercury isotope deposited to the watershed was exported to the lake. Steady state was not reached within 3 years. Lake mercury isotope concentrations were still rising in lake biota, and watershed mercury isotope exports to the lake were increasing slowly. Therefore, we predict that mercury emissions reductions will yield rapid (years) reductions in fish methylmercury concentrations and will yield concomitant reductions in risk. However, a full response will be delayed by the gradual export of mercury stored in watersheds. The rate of response will vary among lakes depending on the relative surface areas of water and watershed.
引用
收藏
页码:16586 / 16591
页数:6
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