Spatial patterns and temporal trends in mercury concentrations in common loons ( Gavia immer ) from 1998 to 2016 in New
- PDF / 1,525,939 Bytes
- 12 Pages / 595.276 x 790.866 pts Page_size
- 118 Downloads / 241 Views
Spatial patterns and temporal trends in mercury concentrations in common loons (Gavia immer) from 1998 to 2016 in New York’s Adirondack Park: has this top predator benefitted from mercury emission controls? Nina Schoch1,2 Yang Yang ●
3
●
Ruth D. Yanai3 Valerie L. Buxton2 David C. Evers4 Charles T. Driscoll5 ●
●
●
1234567890();,:
1234567890();,:
Accepted: 4 October 2019 © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2019
Abstract Mercury (Hg), a neurotoxic pollutant, can be transported long distances through the atmosphere and deposited in remote areas, threatening aquatic wildlife through methylation and bioaccumulation. Over the last two decades, air quality management has resulted in decreases in Hg emissions from waste incinerators and coal-fired power plants across North America. The common loon (Gavia immer) is an apex predator of the aquatic food web. Long-term monitoring of Hg in loons can help track biological recovery in response to the declines in atmospheric Hg that have been documented in the northeastern USA. To assess spatial patterns and temporal trends in Hg exposure of the common loon in the Adirondack Park of New York State, we analyzed Hg concentrations in loon blood and egg samples from 116 lakes between 1998 and 2016. We found spatially variable Hg concentrations in adult loon blood and feathers across the Park. Loon Hg concentrations (converted to female loon units) increased 5.7% yr−1 from 1998 to 2010 (p = 0.04), and then stabilized at 1.70 mg kg−1 from 2010 to 2016 (p = 0.91), based on 760 observations. Concentrations of Hg in juvenile loons also increased in the early part of the record, stabilizing 2 years before Hg concentrations stabilized in adults. For 52 individual lakes with samples from at least 4 different years, loon Hg increased in 34 lakes and decreased in 18 lakes. Overall, we found a delayed recovery of Hg concentrations in loons, despite recent declines in atmospheric Hg. Keywords Common loon Adirondack Park Spatial pattern Temporal trends Mercury New York ●
●
●
●
●
Introduction
* Yang Yang [email protected] 1
Formerly of Biodiversity Research Institute, 276 Canco Rd., Portland, ME 04103, USA
2
Adirondack Center for Loon Conservation, PO Box 195 Ray Brook, NY 12977, USA
3
Department of Forest and Natural Resources Management, State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse, NY 13210, USA
4
Biodiversity Research Institute, 276 Canco Rd., Portland, ME 04103, USA
5
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY 13244, USA
Mercury (Hg) is a neurotoxic pollutant that accumulates in aquatic food webs, making fish unsafe for consumption by humans and wildlife (Chan et al. 2003; Chen et al. 2008). Mercury emitted from coal-fired power plants, mining, and other sources is transported though the atmosphere (Branch 2008) and deposited in remote areas (Selin et al. 2007), where it can be subsequently converted to methyl-Hg. The transfer of methyl-Hg from lake water and sedime
Data Loading...
