The trophic structure of pelagic communities in lakes of glaciated regions is highly variable due to restricted dispersal of glacial relict taxa and recent species introductions. Much of the enormous between-lake variability in PCB levels in lake trout flesh (15–10 000 ng/g) from the St. Lawrence system results from differences in the length of pelagic food chains. Ontario Ministry of the Environment data (1978–81) on PCB concentrations in lake trout flesh indicate that PCB concentrations increased with the length of the food chain and tissue lipid content, and decreased with distance north of urban-industrial centres. Each trophic level contributed about a 3.5-fold biomagnification factor to the PCB concentrations in the trout, and the lipid content of the trout flesh increased by a factor of 1.5 for each additional trophic level. An empirical model capable of predicting PCB levels in pelagic salmonids and forage fish (smelt and coregonids) indicated that biomagnification of small atmospheric inputs of persistent lipophilic contaminants can explain the frequent occurrence of high levels of contaminants in some biota from remote areas, and that species introductions that lengthen food chains will lead to significant increases in levels of atmospherically dispersed persistent organic contaminants in top predators.
Although many measurements have been made on radiocesium levels in water and aquatic biota, no agreement has been reached regarding the factors affecting bioaccumulation of these radionuclides. With monitoring data from countries that operate nuclear facilities and data from the primary literature, we explored the chemical and ecological factors that determine the bioaccumulation of radiocesium. Using log–linear regression we found that the bioaccumulation of 137Cs by fish was a negative function of both dissolved potassium and suspended sediment concentration, and a positive function of temperature. Important ecological factors were the trophic level of the fish (piscivores bioaccumulate more than plank-tivores and benthivores), and the length of the food chain as reflected by the ratio of piscivore yield relative to net primary production. Fish from softwater drainages, which make up a large portion of northern Europe and Canada, are more vulnerable to radiocesium contamination than fish from hardwater sedimentary drainages, because these waters are extremely low in potassium and suspended sediment, and their watersheds are less efficient in retaining radiocesium. High dissolved potassium, short food chains, and the much greater volume and mixing potential of the ocean make marine fish less vulnerable to releases of radiocesium.
The mud deposition boundary depth (mud DBD) is the depth in lakes at which the boundary occurs between high-energy erosive environments (coarse-grained noncohesive sediments) and low-energy depositional zones where fine-grained cohesive sediments accumulate. We have derived a model from the theory of waves and sediment thresholds that predicts the upper limit to the distribution of fine-grained sediments in lakes of any size. Our results suggest that the several biggest storms each year, rather than extremely rare events, are responsible for the upper limit to the distribution of mud. However, significant areas of coarse-grained sediments and many mud DBDs occur deeper than this upper limit, usually on slopes greater than 3%. For sediment at the mud DBD (23 μm), we have developed an empirical relationship between slope and maximum horizontal velocity that demonstrates the significant effect of slope on reducing either sediment threshold velocity or sediment stability.
FLAIR subarachnoid space hyperintensity may be encountered with both pathological conditions and artifacts. Knowledge of these conditions and appearances coupled with any associated findings may suggest the cause of the FLAIR subarachnoid space hyperintensity. A diffuse distribution and a lack of ancillary findings often remain nonspecific and may require clinical correlation and CSF analysis.
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