Isotopic study of mercury sources and transfer between a freshwater lake and adjacent forest food web

Abstract

Studies of monomethylmercury (MMHg) sources and biogeochemical pathways have been extensive in aquatic ecosystems, but limited in forest ecosystems. Increasing evidence suggests that there is significant mercury (Hg) exchange between aquatic and forest ecosystems. We use Hg stable isotope ratios (delta Hg-202 and Delta Hg-199) to investigate the relative importance of MMHg sources and assess Hg transfer pathways between Douglas Lake and adjacent forests located at the University of Michigan Biological Station, USA. We characterize Hg isotopic compositions of basal resources and use linear regression of % MMHg versus delta Hg-202 and Delta Hg-199 to estimate Hg isotope values for inorganic mercury (IHg) and MMHg in the aquatic and adjacent forest food webs. In the aquatic ecosystem, we found that lake sediment represents a mixture of IHg pools deposited via watershed runoff and precipitation. The delta Hg-202 and Delta Hg-199 values estimated for IHg are consistent with other studies that measured forest floor in temperate forests. The Delta Hg-199 value estimated for MMHg in the aquatic food web indicates that MMHg is subjected to similar to 20% photochemical degradation prior to bioaccumulation. In the forest ecosystem, we found a significant negative relationship between total Hg and delta Hg-202 and Delta Hg-199 of soil collected at multiple distances from the lakeshore and lake sediment. This suggests that IHg input from watershed runoff provides an important Hg transfer pathway between the forest and aquatic ecosystems. We measured Delta Hg-199 values for high trophic level insects and compared these insects at multiple distances perpendicular to the lake shoreline. The Delta Hg-199 values correspond to the % canopy cover suggesting that forest MMHg is subjected to varying extents of photochemical degradation and the extent may be controlled by sunlight. Our study demonstrates that the use of Hg isotopes adds important new insight into the relative importance of MMHg sources and complex Hg transfer pathways across ecosystem boundaries. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.