Mercury and the Everglades. A Synthesis and Model for Complex Ecosystem Restoration: Volume II – Aquatic Mercury Cycling and Bioaccumulation in the Everglades

Description

This book integrates 30 years of mercury research in the Florida Everglades to inform scientists and policy makers. The Everglades is an iconic ecosystem by virtue of its expanse; diversity of biota; and multiple international designations. Despite this, the Everglades has been subjected to multiple threats including: habitat loss, hydrologic alterations, invasive species and altered water quality. Less well recognized as a threat to Everglades human use and wildlife populations is the toxic metal, mercury. The first half of Volume II focuses on biogeochemistry and factors unique to the Everglades that make it extraordinarily susceptible to mercury methylation following its deposition: warm subtropical climate, shallow depth, high levels of dissolved organic matter, sulfate contamination, nutrient enrichment and sediment redox conditions (for review of atmospheric mercury deposition significance, see Vol. I). The second half of Volume II answers the “so what” question – why biomagnification of the methylmercury produced in the Everglades is a threat to the health of top predators including humans. The results of the synthesis presented in Volume II suggest that the mercury problem in the Florida Everglades is one of the worst in the world due to its areal extent and the degree of risk to ecological receptors and humans. Front Matter ....Pages i-xviii Aquatic Cycling of Mercury (William H. Orem, David P. Krabbenhoft, Brett A. Poulin, George R. Aiken)....Pages 1-12 Sulfur Contamination in the Everglades, a Major Control on Mercury Methylation (William H. Orem, David P. Krabbenhoft, Brett A. Poulin, George R. Aiken)....Pages 13-48 A Causal Analysis for the Dominant Factor in the Extreme Geographic and Temporal Variability in Mercury Biomagnification in the Everglades (Darren G. Rumbold)....Pages 49-85 Dissolved Organic Matter Interactions with Mercury in the Florida Everglades (Andrew M. Graham)....Pages 87-108 Phosphorus in the Everglades and Its Effects on Oxidation-Reduction Dynamics (Sara A. Phelps, Todd Z. Osborne)....Pages 109-130 Major Drivers of Mercury Methylation and Cycling in the Everglades: A Synthesis (Curtis D. Pollman)....Pages 131-152 Primer on Methylmercury Biomagnification in the Everglades (Darren G. Rumbold)....Pages 153-162 Food Web Structures of Biotically Important Species (Peter C. Frederick, William F. Loftus, Ted Lange, Mark Cunningham)....Pages 163-192 Comparison of Everglades Fish Tissue Mercury Concentrations to Those for Other Fresh Waters (Ted Lange)....Pages 193-205 Regional-Scale Ecological Risk Assessment of Mercury in the Everglades and South Florida (Darren G. Rumbold)....Pages 207-240 Everglades Mercury: Human Health Risk (Donald M. Axelrad, Charles Jagoe, Alan Becker)....Pages 241-268 Mercury Biomagnification Through Everglades’ Food Webs and the Resulting Risk for Environmental and Human Health: A Synthesis (Darren G. Rumbold)....Pages 269-273