Mercury methylation and demethylation by periphyton biofilms and their host in a fluvial wetland of the St. Lawrence River (QC, Canada)

Abstract

Wetlands in large rivers are important sites of production of the neurotoxin methylmercury (MeHg), and the periphyton growing on wetland macrophytes are increasingly recognized as key players in this production and transfer in food webs. Information is lacking about mercury methylation (Km) and demethylation (Kd) rates in periphytic biofilms from the Northern Hemisphere, as well as about the drivers of net MeHg production, hampering ecosystem modeling of Hg cycling. Mercury methylation and demethylation rates were measured in periphytic biofilms growing on submerged plants in a shallow fluvial lake located in a temperate cold region (St. Lawrence River, Quebec, Canada). Incubations were performed in situ within macrophyte beds using low-level spikes of 199HgO and Me200Hg stable isotopes as tracers. A direct relationship was observed between Km (0.002 to 0.137d−1) and [MeHg] in periphyton. A similar relationship was found between Kd (0.096 to 0.334d−1) and [inorganic Hg]. Periphyton of Lake St. Pierre reached high levels of net MeHg production that were two orders of magnitude higher than those found in local sediment. This production varied through the plant growing season and was mainly driven by environmental variables such as depth of growth, available light, dissolved oxygen, temperature, plant community structure, and productivity of the habitat.