Western CEDAR

Title

From forests to fish: Mercury in mountain lake food webs influenced by factors at multiple scales

Authors

Ariana M. Chiapella
Collin A. Eagles-Smith
Angela Strecker, Western Washington University

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

4-2021

Keywords

mercury bioaccumulation, mountain lakes, food web

Abstract

Mountain lakes, while seemingly pristine, have been subjected to historical fish stocking practices and exposure to atmospherically deposited contaminants like mercury. Mercury bioaccumulation in these ecosystems varies widely due to strong environmental gradients, and there are complex, hierarchical factors that affect mercury transport and loading, methylmercury production, and food web biomagnification. We sought to assess how representative variables associated with watershed, lake, and food web-scale processes—specifically, catchment tree cover, lake benthic primary production, and fish diet, respectively—are associated with mercury concentrations in mountain lake fish. Mean fish mercury concentrations varied threefold between lakes, with nearshore tree cover and fish diet accounting for the most variance in fish mercury. Tree cover was likely positively correlated to fish Hg due to its contributions to local deposition and its effect on lake biogeochemistry. Fish with benthic diets tended to have higher mercury concentrations, illustrating that food web processes are an important consideration when investigating drivers of contaminant bioaccumulation. Our results suggest that both landscape and ecological factors are determinants of fish mercury bioaccumulation, and thus variables at multiple scales should be considered when managing mountain lake food webs for mercury exposure risk.

Publication Title

Limnology and Oceanography

Volume

66

Issue

4

First Page

1021

Last Page

1035

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1002/lno.11659

Recommended Citation

Chiapella, A.M., Eagles-Smith, C.A. and Strecker, A.L. (2021), From forests to fish: Mercury in mountain lake food webs influenced by factors at multiple scales. Limnol Oceanogr, 66: 1021-1035. https://doi.org/10.1002/lno.11659

Subjects - Topical (LCSH)

Lake ecology; Mercury--Bioaccumulation; Water--Pollution; Fish communities--Effect of pollution on

Genre/Form

articles

Type

Text

Rights

Copying of this document in whole or in part is allowable only for scholarly purposes. It is understood, however, that any copying or publication of this document for commercial purposes, or for financial gain, shall not be allowed without the author’s written permission.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

Language

English

Format

application/pdf