Austin K. Baldwin, Collin A. Eagles-Smith, James J. Willacker, Brett A. Poulin, David P. Krabbenhoft, Jesse Naymik, Michael T. Tate, Dain Bates, Nick Gastelecutto, Charles Hoovestol, Chris Larsen, Alysa M. Yoder, James Chandler, Ralph Myers
Abstract
Anoxic conditions within reservoirs related to thermal stratification and oxygen depletion lead to methylmercury (MeHg) production, a key process governing the uptake of mercury in aquatic food webs. Once formed within a reservoir, the timing and magnitude of the biological uptake of MeHg and the relative importance of MeHg export in water versus biological compartments remain poorly understood. We examined the relations between the reservoir stratification state, anoxia, and the concentrations and export loads of MeHg in aqueous and biological compartments at the outflow locations of two reservoirs of the Hells Canyon Complex (Snake River, Idaho-Oregon). Results show that (1) MeHg concentrations in filter-passing water, zooplankton, suspended particles, and detritus increased in response to reservoir destratification; (2) zooplankton MeHg strongly correlated with MeHg in filter-passing water during destratification; (3) reservoir anoxia appeared to be a key control on MeHg export; and (4) biological MeHg, primarily in zooplankton, accounted for only 5% of total MeHg export from the reservoirs (the remainder being aqueous compartments). These results improve our understanding of the role of biological incorporation of MeHg and the subsequent downstream release from seasonally stratified reservoirs and demonstrate that in-reservoir physical processes strongly influence MeHg incorporation at the base of the aquatic food web.
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 3. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 31 July 2023.
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#9,017,337
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#10,124
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#158,671
of 439,745 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Environmental Science & Technology
#150
of 297 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 26,588,416 research outputs across all sources so far. This one is in the 43rd percentile – i.e., 43% of other outputs scored the same or lower than it.
So far Altmetric has tracked 21,812 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 18.1. This one is in the 28th percentile – i.e., 28% of its peers scored the same or lower than it.
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We're also able to compare this research output to 297 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one is in the 49th percentile – i.e., 49% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.
