Temporal analysis of net fluvial methylmercury loading in a dystrophic and a clear water lake

Abstract

The concentration of methylmercury (MeHg) in aquatic ecosystems is the net result of the highly dynamic abiotic and biotic processes of mercury methylation and demethylation. In this study, we conduct an examination of the net fluvial loading of methylmercury (MeHg Net = MeHg Watershed − MeHg Lake outflow) across a 3 year time frame in both a dystrophic lake and an oligotrophic lake. A significant portion of MeHg Net variance in both lakes could be attributed to a seasonal pattern (11.4%, p = 0.009; oligotrophic, and 27.0%, p < 0.0001; dystrophic) which in both cases, was most correlated with air temperature. The dystrophic lake appeared to be a net source of methylmercury (MeHg Net = − 1.9 ± 0.3 mg MeHg d − 1 ) while the oligotrophic lake appeared to be a net sink (MeHg Net = 0.4 ± 0.2 mg MeHg d − 1 ), indicating that there was net methylation in the dystrophic lake and net demethylation in the oligotrophic lake. Higher MeHg loading to the lakes occurred during the summer and between seasons there was a difference in MeHg Net of 1.1 ±0.3 mg MeHg d − 1 and 3.1 ± 0.6 mg MeHg d − 1 . Seasonal patterns of MeHg Net in the oligotrophic lake lagged behind the dystrophic lake by 39 days. The short term variation in MeHg Net was dominated by precipitation ( t = 2.73, p = 0.008; dystrophic, t = 2.53, p = 0.017; oligotrophic).