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Mercury in the Soil of Two Contrasting Watersheds in the Eastern United States

Soil represents the largest store of mercury (Hg) in terrestrial ecosystems, and further study of the factors associated with soil Hg storage is needed to address concerns about the magnitude and persistence of global environmental Hg bioaccumulation. To address this need, we compared total Hg and m...

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Autores principales: Burns, Douglas A., Woodruff, Laurel G., Bradley, Paul M., Cannon, William F.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2014
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3925094/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24551042
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0086855
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author Burns, Douglas A.
Woodruff, Laurel G.
Bradley, Paul M.
Cannon, William F.
author_facet Burns, Douglas A.
Woodruff, Laurel G.
Bradley, Paul M.
Cannon, William F.
author_sort Burns, Douglas A.
collection PubMed
description Soil represents the largest store of mercury (Hg) in terrestrial ecosystems, and further study of the factors associated with soil Hg storage is needed to address concerns about the magnitude and persistence of global environmental Hg bioaccumulation. To address this need, we compared total Hg and methyl Hg concentrations and stores in the soil of different landscapes in two watersheds in different geographic settings with similar and relatively high methyl Hg concentrations in surface waters and biota, Fishing Brook, Adirondack Mountains, New York, and McTier Creek, Coastal Plain, South Carolina. Median total Hg concentrations and stores in organic and mineral soil samples were three-fold greater at Fishing Brook than at McTier Creek. Similarly, median methyl Hg concentrations were about two-fold greater in Fishing Brook soil than in McTier Creek soil, but this difference was significant only for mineral soil samples, and methyl Hg stores were not significantly different among these watersheds. In contrast, the methyl Hg/total Hg ratio was significantly greater at McTier Creek suggesting greater climate-driven methylation efficiency in the Coastal Plain soil than that of the Adirondack Mountains. The Adirondack soil had eight-fold greater soil organic matter than that of the Coastal Plain, consistent with greater total Hg stores in the northern soil, but soil organic matter – total Hg relations differed among the sites. A strong linear relation was evident at McTier Creek (r(2) = 0.68; p<0.001), but a linear relation at Fishing Brook was weak (r(2) = 0.13; p<0.001) and highly variable across the soil organic matter content range, suggesting excess Hg binding capacity in the Adirondack soil. These results suggest greater total Hg turnover time in Adirondack soil than that of the Coastal Plain, and that future declines in stream water Hg concentrations driven by declines in atmospheric Hg deposition will be more gradual and prolonged in the Adirondacks.
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spelling pubmed-39250942014-02-18 Mercury in the Soil of Two Contrasting Watersheds in the Eastern United States Burns, Douglas A. Woodruff, Laurel G. Bradley, Paul M. Cannon, William F. PLoS One Research Article Soil represents the largest store of mercury (Hg) in terrestrial ecosystems, and further study of the factors associated with soil Hg storage is needed to address concerns about the magnitude and persistence of global environmental Hg bioaccumulation. To address this need, we compared total Hg and methyl Hg concentrations and stores in the soil of different landscapes in two watersheds in different geographic settings with similar and relatively high methyl Hg concentrations in surface waters and biota, Fishing Brook, Adirondack Mountains, New York, and McTier Creek, Coastal Plain, South Carolina. Median total Hg concentrations and stores in organic and mineral soil samples were three-fold greater at Fishing Brook than at McTier Creek. Similarly, median methyl Hg concentrations were about two-fold greater in Fishing Brook soil than in McTier Creek soil, but this difference was significant only for mineral soil samples, and methyl Hg stores were not significantly different among these watersheds. In contrast, the methyl Hg/total Hg ratio was significantly greater at McTier Creek suggesting greater climate-driven methylation efficiency in the Coastal Plain soil than that of the Adirondack Mountains. The Adirondack soil had eight-fold greater soil organic matter than that of the Coastal Plain, consistent with greater total Hg stores in the northern soil, but soil organic matter – total Hg relations differed among the sites. A strong linear relation was evident at McTier Creek (r(2) = 0.68; p<0.001), but a linear relation at Fishing Brook was weak (r(2) = 0.13; p<0.001) and highly variable across the soil organic matter content range, suggesting excess Hg binding capacity in the Adirondack soil. These results suggest greater total Hg turnover time in Adirondack soil than that of the Coastal Plain, and that future declines in stream water Hg concentrations driven by declines in atmospheric Hg deposition will be more gradual and prolonged in the Adirondacks. Public Library of Science 2014-02-14 /pmc/articles/PMC3925094/ /pubmed/24551042 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0086855 Text en https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Public Domain declaration, which stipulates that, once placed in the public domain, this work may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose.
spellingShingle Research Article
Burns, Douglas A.
Woodruff, Laurel G.
Bradley, Paul M.
Cannon, William F.
Mercury in the Soil of Two Contrasting Watersheds in the Eastern United States
title Mercury in the Soil of Two Contrasting Watersheds in the Eastern United States
title_full Mercury in the Soil of Two Contrasting Watersheds in the Eastern United States
title_fullStr Mercury in the Soil of Two Contrasting Watersheds in the Eastern United States
title_full_unstemmed Mercury in the Soil of Two Contrasting Watersheds in the Eastern United States
title_short Mercury in the Soil of Two Contrasting Watersheds in the Eastern United States
title_sort mercury in the soil of two contrasting watersheds in the eastern united states
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3925094/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24551042
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0086855
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