| Title: | Mercury Hotspots in Freshwater Ecosystems: Drivers, Processes, and Patterns |
|---|---|
| Author: | Celia Chen, Charles T. Driscoll, Neil Kamman |
| Publication Year: | 2012 |
| Number of Pages in Article: | 24 |
| Keywords: | Adirondacks, aquatic ecosystems, bioaccumulation, Everglades, Great Lakes, hotspots, methylation, Methylmercury, reservoirs |
| Publication Type: | Technical and Demonstration |
| Citation: | Chen, C.Y., Driscoll, C. T., & Kamman, N.C. (2012) Mercury Hotspots in Freshwater Ecosystems: Drivers, Processes, and Patterns. In M. Bank (Ed.), Mercury in the Environment: Pattern and Process (pp. 143-166). Berkeley, CA: University of California Press |
| Abstract: | Studies conducted in a wide range of freshwater ecosystems have revealed specific suites of attributes that predispose certain ecosystems to being sites of elevated MeHg bioaccumulation in fish and piscivorous birds and mammals. These hotspots result from a complex sequence of biotic and abiotic mechanisms that occur at critical points in the transfer of Hg in the environment from Hg supply, methylation, transport, bioaccumulation, and transfer in food webs. System-specific case studies are described in which Hg concentrations in biotic endpoints are known to be elevated. These studies highlight mercury sensitivity factors in natural lakes and ponds occupying sensitive landscapes, small and large managed reservoirs, the Florida Everglades, the Great Lakes, and in industrially impacted rivers. |