Ecosystem Drivers of Freshwater Mercury Bioaccumulation Are Context-Dependent: Insights from Continental-Scale Modeling.

ABSTRACT: Significant variation in mercury (Hg) bioaccumulation is observed across the diversity of freshwater ecosystems in North America. While there is support for the major drivers of Hg bioaccumulation, the relative influence of different external factors can vary widely among waterbodies, which makes predicting Hg risk across large spatial scales particularly challenging. We modeled Hg bioaccumulation by coupling Hg concentrations in more than 21,000 dragonflies collected across the United States from 2008 to 2021 with a suite of chemical (e.g., dissolved organic carbon (DOC), pH, sulfate) and landscape (e.g., soil characteristics, land cover) variables representing external drivers of Hg methylation, transport, and uptake. Model predictions explained 85% of the variation in dragonfly Hg conce

SUBMITTER: Kotalik CJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11780732 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature