{"title":"Mercury Contamination of Fish and Their Prey Across a Riverine Food Web","authors":"Beth N. Tweedy, B. Sansom, C. Vaughn","doi":"10.1674/0003-0031-188.2.234","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Abstract. Lakes and reservoirs are frequently monitored by researchers for elevated mercury concentrations in sportfish. Rivers and streams, especially those of smaller orders, are less frequently monitored for mercury contamination and nonsport fishes and invertebrates, although important components of the food web, are rarely examined. We addressed this gap by surveying mercury levels in a stream community in the Kiamichi River in southeastern Oklahoma, U.S., by sampling fish and macroinvertebrates at ten sites in the river. We found elevated levels of mercury across taxa within the river including individuals of smallmouth bass populations 10–25 cm in length having concentrations (2986 ± 1053 ng/g dry weight) above the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency human limit. Furthermore, we observed high concentrations in darters and logperch (1133 ± 464 ng/g dry weight), nonsport fishes found predominantly in rivers and streams. Our results indicate mercury contamination can reach elevated concentrations in rivers and stream food webs, posing risks to both humans and wildlife.","PeriodicalId":50802,"journal":{"name":"American Midland Naturalist","volume":"188 1","pages":"234 - 243"},"PeriodicalIF":0.6000,"publicationDate":"2022-10-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"American Midland Naturalist","FirstCategoryId":"93","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1674/0003-0031-188.2.234","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q4","JCRName":"Agricultural and Biological Sciences","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Abstract. Lakes and reservoirs are frequently monitored by researchers for elevated mercury concentrations in sportfish. Rivers and streams, especially those of smaller orders, are less frequently monitored for mercury contamination and nonsport fishes and invertebrates, although important components of the food web, are rarely examined. We addressed this gap by surveying mercury levels in a stream community in the Kiamichi River in southeastern Oklahoma, U.S., by sampling fish and macroinvertebrates at ten sites in the river. We found elevated levels of mercury across taxa within the river including individuals of smallmouth bass populations 10–25 cm in length having concentrations (2986 ± 1053 ng/g dry weight) above the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency human limit. Furthermore, we observed high concentrations in darters and logperch (1133 ± 464 ng/g dry weight), nonsport fishes found predominantly in rivers and streams. Our results indicate mercury contamination can reach elevated concentrations in rivers and stream food webs, posing risks to both humans and wildlife.
期刊介绍:
The American Midland Naturalist has been published for 90 years by the University of Notre Dame. The connotations of Midland and Naturalist have broadened and its geographic coverage now includes North America with occasional articles from other continents. The old image of naturalist has changed and the journal publishes what Charles Elton aptly termed "scientific natural history" including field and experimental biology. Its significance and breadth of coverage are evident in that the American Midland Naturalist is among the most frequently cited journals in publications on ecology, mammalogy, herpetology, ornithology, ichthyology, parasitology, aquatic and invertebrate biology and other biological disciplines.