| Mercury in the pelagic food web of Lake Champlain. | |
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MedLine Citation:
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PMID: 22193540 Owner: NLM Status: Publisher |
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
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Lake Champlain continues to experience mercury contamination resulting in public advisories to limit human consumption of top trophic level fish such as walleye. Prior research suggested that mercury levels in biota could be modified by differences in ecosystem productivity as well as mercury loadings. We investigated relationships between mercury in different trophic levels in Lake Champlain. We measured inorganic and methyl mercury in water, seston, and two size fractions of zooplankton from 13 sites representing a range of nutrient loading conditions and productivity. Biomass varied significantly across lake segments in all measured ecosystem compartments in response to significant differences in nutrient levels. Local environmental factors such as alkalinity influenced the partitioning of mercury between water and seston. Mercury incorporation into biota was influenced by the biomass and mercury content of different ecosystem strata. Pelagic fish tissue mercury was a function of fish length and the size of the mercury pool associated with large zooplankton. We used these observations to parameterize a model of mercury transfers in the Lake Champlain food web that accounts for ecosystem productivity effects. Simulations using the mercury trophic transfer model suggest that reductions of 25-75% in summertime dissolved eplimnetic total mercury will likely allow fish tissue mercury concentrations to drop to the target level of 0.3 μg g(-1) in a 40-cm fish in all lake segments. Changes in nutrient loading and ecosystem productivity in eutrophic segments may delay any response to reduced dissolved mercury and may result in increases in fish tissue mercury. |
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Authors:
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Eric K Miller; Celia Chen; Neil Kamman; James Shanley; Ann Chalmers; Brian Jackson; Vivien Taylor; Eric Smeltzer; Pete Stangel; Angela Shambaugh |
Publication Detail:
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Type: JOURNAL ARTICLE Date: 2011-12-23 |
Journal Detail:
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Title: Ecotoxicology (London, England) Volume: - ISSN: 1573-3017 ISO Abbreviation: - Publication Date: 2011 Dec |
Date Detail:
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Created Date: 2011-12-23 Completed Date: - Revised Date: - |
Medline Journal Info:
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Nlm Unique ID: 9885956 Medline TA: Ecotoxicology Country: - |
Other Details:
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Languages: ENG Pagination: - Citation Subset: - |
Affiliation:
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Ecosystems Research Group, Ltd., P.O. Box 1227, Norwich, VT, 05055, USA, ekmiller@ecosystems-research.com. |
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From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine
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