Distribution, hydrologic transport, and cycling of total mercury and methyl mercury in a contaminated river-reservoir-wetland system (Sudbury River, eastern Massachusetts)

Waldron, Marcus C.; Colman, John A.; Breault, Robert F.

doi:10.1139/cjfas-57-5-1080

Cited by 17 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Mercury The forested floodplains of large rivers have substantial ability to methylate Hg, and recent work at three Hg-contaminated rivers in the region (the Sudbury River in Massachusetts and branches of the Shenandoah and Holston Rivers in Virginia) has demonstrated the importance of floodplain forests and riparian wetlands for generation of high methylmercury levels (e.g., Waldron et al 2000). Insectivorous bird species that live in these floodplains, such as the Carolina wren, wormeating and yellow-throated warblers, Northern and Louisiana waterthrushes, red-winged blackbird, and song and swamp sparrows, have blood Hg levels that well exceed known toxic levels for songbirds .…”

Section: Low-gradient Riversmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Air Pollution on Ecosystems and Biological Diversity in the Eastern United States

Lovett

Tear

Evers

et al. 2009

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences

194

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Conservation organizations have most often focused on land-use change, climate change, and invasive species as prime threats to biodiversity conservation. Although air pollution is an acknowledged widespread problem, it is rarely considered in conservation planning or management. In this synthesis, the state of scientific knowledge on the effects of air pollution on plants and animals in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States is summarized. Four air pollutants (sulfur, nitrogen, ozone, and mercury) and eight ecosystem types ranging from estuaries to alpine tundra are considered. Effects of air pollution were identified, with varying levels of certainty, in all the ecosystem types examined. None of these ecosystem types is free of the impacts of air pollution, and most are affected by multiple pollutants. In aquatic ecosystems, effects of acidity, nitrogen, and mercury on organisms and biogeochemical processes are well documented. Air pollution causes or contributes to acidification of lakes, eutrophication of estuaries and coastal waters, and mercury bioaccumulation in aquatic food webs. In terrestrial ecosystems, the effects of air pollution on biogeochemical cycling are also very well documented, but the effects on most organisms and the interaction of air pollution with other stressors are less well understood. Nevertheless, there is strong evidence for effects of nitrogen deposition on plants in grasslands, alpine areas, and bogs, and for nitrogen effects on forest mycorrhizae. Soil acidification is widespread in forest ecosystems across the eastern United States and is likely to affect the composition and function of forests in acid-sensitive areas over the long term. Ozone is known to cause reductions in photosynthesis in many terrestrial plant species. For the most part, the effects of these pollutants are chronic, not acute, at the exposure levels common in the eastern United States. Mortality is often observed only at experimentally elevated exposure levels or in combination with other stresses such as drought, freezing, or pathogens. The notable exceptions are the acid/aluminum effects on aquatic organisms, which can be lethal at levels of acidity observed in many surface waters in the region. Although the effects are often subtle, they are important to biological conservation. Changes in species composition caused by terrestrial or aquatic acidification or eutrophication can propagate throughout the food webs to affect many organisms beyond those that are directly sensitive to the pollution. Likewise, sublethal 100Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences doses of toxic pollutants may reduce the reproductive success of the affected organisms or make them more susceptible to potentially lethal pathogens. Many serious gaps in knowledge that warrant further research were identified. Among those gaps are the effects of acidification, ozone, and mercury on alpine systems, effects of nitrogen on species composition of forests, effects of mercury in terrestrial food webs, interactiv...

show abstract

Section: Low-gradient Riversmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Air Pollution on Ecosystems and Biological Diversity in the Eastern United States

Lovett

Tear

Evers

et al. 2009

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences

194

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Several studies indicate that the retention of Hg in wetlands is lower than in upland soils (e.g., Mierle 1990;Hurley et al 1995;Waldron et al 2000). This is a somewhat surprising finding, considering the fact that Hg interacts strongly with surface components of live and dead OM.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Louis et al 1994;Hurley et al 1995;Waldron et al 2000). In contrast to inorganic Hg (IHg), MeHg is biomagnified in aquatic food webs, leading to bioconcentration factors ([MeHg] organism / [MeHg] water ) of up to 10 7 for predaceous fish (Surma-Aho et al 1986;Driscoll et al 1994).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Coupling of methyl and total mercury in a minerotrophic peat bog in southeastern Sweden

Regnell¹

2004

Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The mean concentration of mercury in preserved fish collected in 1963 did not differ significantly (Gabriel's test, P > 0.05) from The decline in mercury concentrations in fish from Mountain Fork River from 1993 to 2003 may be related to impoundment and the operation of the coldwater trout fishery in the river immediately above the collection site. These alterations could reduce mercury contamination of fish by entrapment of mercury-laden sediments above the dam (Waldron et al 2000), reduction of methylation rates in the river by the coldwater discharge (Hammerschmidt and Fitzgerald 2004), and stabilization of river flow (Leitch et al 2007). The lack of change in mercury concentration in longear sunfish in nearby Glover River suggests that the reduction in mercury in longear sunfish from Mountain Fork River is not due to a reduction in atmospheric deposition of mercury.…”

Section: Museum Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Use of preserved museum fish to evaluate historical and current mercury contamination in fish from two rivers in Oklahoma, USA

Hill

Chumchal

Drenner

et al. 2009

Environ Monit Assess

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We examined the effects of a commonly used preservation technique on mercury concentration in fish tissue. After fixing fish muscle tissue in formalin followed by preservation in isopropanol, we found that mercury concentration in fish muscle tissue increased by 18%, reaching an asymptote after 40 days. We used formalin-isopropanol-preserved longear sunfish (Lepomis megalotis) from the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History to examine historical changes and predict current mercury concentrations in fish from two rivers in southeastern Oklahoma. Glover River was free-flowing, while Mountain Fork River was impounded in 1970 and a coldwater trout fishery was established upstream from the collection site in 1989. Mercury concentrations in longear sunfish from Glover River showed no historical changes from 1963 to 2001. Mercury concentrations in longear sunfish from Mountain Fork River showed no change from 1925 to 1993 but declined significantly from 1993 to 2003. We also compared mercury concentrations of the most recently collected longear sunfish in the museum to mercury concentrations of unpreserved fish collected from the rivers in 2006. Concentrations of mercury in museum fish were not significantly different from mercury concentrations in unpreserved fish we collected from the rivers. Our study indicates that preserved museum fish specimens can be used to evaluate historical changes and predict current levels of mercury contamination in fish.

show abstract

Distribution, hydrologic transport, and cycling of total mercury and methyl mercury in a contaminated river-reservoir-wetland system (Sudbury River, eastern Massachusetts)

Cited by 17 publications

References 0 publications

Effects of Air Pollution on Ecosystems and Biological Diversity in the Eastern United States

Effects of Air Pollution on Ecosystems and Biological Diversity in the Eastern United States

Coupling of methyl and total mercury in a minerotrophic peat bog in southeastern Sweden

Use of preserved museum fish to evaluate historical and current mercury contamination in fish from two rivers in Oklahoma, USA

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About