Diet and landscape characteristics drive spatial patterns of mercury accumulation in a high-latitude terrestrial carnivore. Peraza, I., Chételat, J., Richardson, M., Jung, T. S., Awan, M., Baryluk, S., Dastoor, A., Harrower, W., Kukka, P. M., McClelland, C., Mowat, G., Pelletier, N., Rodford, C., & Ryjkov, A. PLOS ONE, 18(5):e0285826, May, 2023.
Diet and landscape characteristics drive spatial patterns of mercury accumulation in a high-latitude terrestrial carnivore [link]Paper  doi  abstract   bibtex   
Limited information exists on mercury concentrations and environmental drivers of mercury bioaccumulation in high latitude terrestrial carnivores. Spatial patterns of mercury concentrations in wolverine ( Gulo gulo , n = 419) were assessed across a 1,600,000 km 2 study area in relation to landscape, climate, diet and biological factors in Arctic and boreal biomes of western Canada. Hydrogen stable isotope ratios were measured in wolverine hair from a subset of 80 animals to assess the spatial scale for characterizing environmental conditions of their habitat. Habitat characteristics were determined using GIS methods and raster datasets at two scales, the collection location point and a 150 km radius buffer, which was selected based on results of a correlation analysis between hydrogen stable isotopes in precipitation and wolverine hair. Total mercury concentrations in wolverine muscle ranged \textgreater2 orders of magnitude from 0.01 to 5.72 μg/g dry weight and varied geographically, with the highest concentrations in the Northwest Territories followed by Nunavut and Yukon. Regression models at both spatial scales indicated diet (based on nitrogen stable isotope ratios) was the strongest explanatory variable of mercury concentrations in wolverine, with smaller though statistically significant contributions from landscape variables (soil organic carbon, percent cover of wet area, percent cover of perennial snow-ice) and distance to the Arctic Ocean coast. The carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios of wolverine muscle suggested greater mercury bioaccumulation could be associated with feeding on marine biota in coastal habitats. Landscape variables identified in the modelling may reflect habitat conditions which support enhanced methylmercury transfer to terrestrial biota. Spatially-explicit estimates of wet atmospheric deposition were positively correlated with wolverine mercury concentrations but this variable was not selected in the final regression models. These landscape patterns provide a basis for further research on underlying processes enhancing methylmercury uptake in high latitude terrestrial food webs.
@article{peraza_diet_2023,
	title = {Diet and landscape characteristics drive spatial patterns of mercury accumulation in a high-latitude terrestrial carnivore},
	volume = {18},
	issn = {1932-6203},
	url = {https://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0285826},
	doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0285826},
	abstract = {Limited information exists on mercury concentrations and environmental drivers of mercury bioaccumulation in high latitude terrestrial carnivores. Spatial patterns of mercury concentrations in wolverine (
              Gulo gulo
              , n = 419) were assessed across a 1,600,000 km
              2
              study area in relation to landscape, climate, diet and biological factors in Arctic and boreal biomes of western Canada. Hydrogen stable isotope ratios were measured in wolverine hair from a subset of 80 animals to assess the spatial scale for characterizing environmental conditions of their habitat. Habitat characteristics were determined using GIS methods and raster datasets at two scales, the collection location point and a 150 km radius buffer, which was selected based on results of a correlation analysis between hydrogen stable isotopes in precipitation and wolverine hair. Total mercury concentrations in wolverine muscle ranged {\textgreater}2 orders of magnitude from 0.01 to 5.72 μg/g dry weight and varied geographically, with the highest concentrations in the Northwest Territories followed by Nunavut and Yukon. Regression models at both spatial scales indicated diet (based on nitrogen stable isotope ratios) was the strongest explanatory variable of mercury concentrations in wolverine, with smaller though statistically significant contributions from landscape variables (soil organic carbon, percent cover of wet area, percent cover of perennial snow-ice) and distance to the Arctic Ocean coast. The carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios of wolverine muscle suggested greater mercury bioaccumulation could be associated with feeding on marine biota in coastal habitats. Landscape variables identified in the modelling may reflect habitat conditions which support enhanced methylmercury transfer to terrestrial biota. Spatially-explicit estimates of wet atmospheric deposition were positively correlated with wolverine mercury concentrations but this variable was not selected in the final regression models. These landscape patterns provide a basis for further research on underlying processes enhancing methylmercury uptake in high latitude terrestrial food webs.},
	language = {en},
	number = {5},
	urldate = {2023-06-02},
	journal = {PLOS ONE},
	author = {Peraza, Inés and Chételat, John and Richardson, Murray and Jung, Thomas S. and Awan, Malik and Baryluk, Steve and Dastoor, Ashu and Harrower, William and Kukka, Piia M. and McClelland, Christine and Mowat, Garth and Pelletier, Nicolas and Rodford, Christine and Ryjkov, Andrei},
	editor = {Qureshi, Asif},
	month = may,
	year = {2023},
	keywords = {Terrestrial Ecoregions},
	pages = {e0285826},
}

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