Foliar Hg Research Articles

Global Distribution of Mercury in Foliage Predicted by Machine Learning.

Foliar assimilation of elemental mercury (Hg0) from the atmosphere plays a critical role in the global Hg biogeochemical cycle, leading to atmospheric Hg removal and soil Hg insertion. Recent studies have estimated global foliar Hg assimilation; however, large uncertainties remained due to coarse accounting of observed foliar Hg concentrations, posing a substantial challenge in constraining the global Hg budget. Here, we integrated a comprehensive observation database of foliar Hg concentrations and machine learning algorithms to predict the first spatial distribution of foliar Hg concentrations on a global scale, contributing to the first estimate of global Hg pools in foliage. The global average of foliar Hg concentrations was estimated to be 24.0 ng g-1 (7.5-56.5 ng g-1), and the global total in foliar Hg pools reached 4561.3 Mg (1455.2-9062.8 Mg). The spatial distribution showed the hotspots in tropical regions, including the Amazon, Central Africa, and Southeast Asia. A range of 2268.5-2727.0 Mg yr-1 was estimated for annual foliar Hg assimilation accounting for the perennial continuous assimilation by evergreen vegetation foliage. The first spatial maps of foliar Hg concentrations and Hg pools may aid in understanding the global biogeochemical cycling of Hg, especially in the context of climate change and global vegetation greening.

Tree foliage as a net accumulator of highly toxic methylmercury

Tree canopies are known to elevate atmospheric inputs of both mercury (Hg) and methylmercury (MeHg). While foliar uptake of gaseous Hg is well documented, little is known regarding the temporal dynamics and origins of MeHg in tree foliage, which represents typically less than 1% of total Hg in foliage. In this work, we examined the foliar total Hg and MeHg content by following the growth of five individual trees of American Beech (Fagus grandifolia) for one growing season (April–November, 2017) in North Carolina, USA. We show that similar to other studies foliar Hg content increased almost linearly over time, with daily accumulation rates ranging from 0.123 to 0.161 ng/g/day. However, not all trees showed linear increases of foliar MeHg content along the growing season; we found that 2 out of 5 trees showed elevated foliar MeHg content at the initial phase of the growing season but their MeHg content declined through early summer. However, foliar MeHg content among all 5 trees showed eventual increases through the end of the growing season, proving that foliage is a net accumulator of MeHg while foliar gain of biomass did not “dilute” MeHg content.

A Spatial Assessment of Current and Future Foliar Hg Uptake Fluxes Across European Forests

AbstractAtmospheric mercury (Hg) is deposited to land surfaces mainly through vegetation uptake. Foliage stomatal gas exchange plays an important role for net vegetation Hg uptake, because foliage assimilates Hg via the stomata. Here, we use empirical relationships of foliar Hg uptake by forest tree species to produce a spatially highly resolved (1 km2) map of foliar Hg fluxes to European forests over one growing season. The modeled forest foliar Hg uptake flux is 23 ± 12 Mg Hg season−1, which agrees with previous estimates from literature. We spatially compared forest Hg fluxes with modeled fluxes of the chemical transport model GEOS‐Chem and find a good overall agreement. For European pine forests, stomatal Hg uptake was shown to be sensitive to prevailing conditions of relatively high ambient water vapor pressure deficit (VPD). We tested a stomatal uptake model for the total pine needle Hg uptake flux during four previous growing seasons (1994, 2003, 2015/2017, 2018) and two climate change scenarios (RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5). The resulting modeled total European pine needle Hg uptake fluxes are in a range of 8.0–9.3 Mg Hg season−1 (min–max). The lowest pine forest needle Hg uptake flux to Europe (8 Mg Hg season−1) among all investigated growing seasons was associated with unusually hot and dry ambient conditions in the European summer 2018, highlighting the sensitivity of the investigated flux to prolonged high VPD. We conclude, that stomatal modeling is particularly useful to investigate changes in Hg deposition in the context of extreme climate events.

Plant mercury accumulation and litter input to a Northern Sedge-dominated Peatland

Abstract. Plant foliage plays an essential role in accumulating mercury (Hg) from the atmosphere and transferring it to soils in terrestrial ecosystems, and many studies have focused on forested ecosystems. Hg input from plants to northern peatland peat soils has not been nearly as well studied and is likely equally important from a mass balance perspective. In this study, we investigated the accumulation of atmospheric Hg by the dominant plant species, few-seeded sedge (Carex oligosperma Michx.), wire sedge (Carex lasiocarpa Ehrh), tussock sedge (Carex stricta Lamb.), and sweet gale (Myrica gale L.), in a boreal sedge-dominated peatland. Foliar Hg concentrations decreased early in the growing season due to growth dilution, and after that they were subsequently positively correlated with leaf age (time). Hg concentrations were 1.4–1.7 times higher in sweet gale than in sedges. A leaching experiment showed that sweet gale leached less Hg but more bioaccessible dissolved organic matter (DOM) by mass than sedges. Leaching of Hg was positively related to the aromaticity of DOM in leachate, suggesting the importance of DOM with higher aromaticity in controlling Hg mobility. Annual inputs of Hg through senesced leaf material to peat soils were 9.88, 1.62, and 8.29 mg ha−1 yr−1 for sweet gale, tussock sedge, and few-seeded sedge and wire sedge, respectively. Future investigations into foliar Hg accumulation and input from other plant species to the sedge-dominated peatland are needed to estimate the annual Hg inputs precisely.

Physiological and climate controls on foliar mercury uptake by European tree species

Abstract. Despite the importance of vegetation uptake of atmospheric gaseous elemental mercury (Hg(0)) within the global Hg cycle, little knowledge exists on the physiological, climatic, and geographic factors controlling stomatal uptake of atmospheric Hg(0) by tree foliage. We investigate controls on foliar stomatal Hg(0) uptake by combining Hg measurements of 3569 foliage samples across Europe with data on tree species' traits and environmental conditions. To account for foliar Hg accumulation over time, we normalized foliar Hg concentration over the foliar life period from the simulated start of the growing season to sample harvest. The most relevant parameter impacting daily foliar stomatal Hg uptake was tree functional group (deciduous versus coniferous trees). On average, we measured 3.2 times higher daily foliar stomatal Hg uptake rates in deciduous leaves than in coniferous needles of the same age. Across tree species, for foliage of beech and fir, and at two out of three forest plots with more than 20 samples, we found a significant (p<0.001) increase in foliar Hg values with respective leaf nitrogen concentrations. We therefore suggest that foliar stomatal Hg uptake is controlled by tree functional traits with uptake rates increasing from low to high nutrient content representing low to high physiological activity. For pine and spruce needles, we detected a significant linear decrease in daily foliar stomatal Hg uptake with the proportion of time during which water vapor pressure deficit (VPD) exceeded the species-specific threshold values of 1.2 and 3 kPa, respectively. The proportion of time within the growing season during which surface soil water content (ERA5-Land) in the region of forest plots was low correlated negatively with foliar Hg uptake rates of beech and pine. These findings suggest that stomatal uptake of atmospheric Hg(0) is inhibited under high VPD conditions and/or low soil water content due to the regulation of stomatal conductance to reduce water loss under dry conditions. Other parameters associated with forest sampling sites (latitude and altitude), sampled trees (average age and diameter at breast height), or regional satellite-observation-based transpiration product (Global Land Evaporation Amsterdam Model: GLEAM) did not significantly correlate with daily foliar Hg uptake rates. We conclude that tree physiological activity and stomatal response to VPD and soil water content should be implemented in a stomatal Hg model to assess future Hg cycling under different anthropogenic emission scenarios and global warming.

A bottom-up quantification of foliar mercury uptake fluxes across Europe

Abstract. The exchange of gaseous elemental mercury, Hg(0), between the atmosphere and terrestrial surfaces remains poorly understood mainly due to difficulties in measuring net Hg(0) fluxes on the ecosystem scale. Emerging evidence suggests foliar uptake of atmospheric Hg(0) to be a major deposition pathway to terrestrial surfaces. Here, we present a bottom-up approach to calculate Hg(0) uptake fluxes to aboveground foliage by combining foliar Hg uptake rates normalized to leaf area with species-specific leaf area indices. This bottom-up approach incorporates systematic variations in crown height and needle age. We analyzed Hg content in 583 foliage samples from six tree species at 10 European forested research sites along a latitudinal gradient from Switzerland to northern Finland over the course of the 2018 growing season. Foliar Hg concentrations increased over time in all six tree species at all sites. We found that foliar Hg uptake rates normalized to leaf area were highest at the top of the tree crown. Foliar Hg uptake rates decreased with needle age of multiyear-old conifers (spruce and pine). Average species-specific foliar Hg uptake fluxes during the 2018 growing season were 18 ± 3 µg Hg m−2 for beech, 26 ± 5 µg Hg m−2 for oak, 4 ± 1 µg Hg m−2 for pine and 11 ± 1 µg Hg m−2 for spruce. For comparison, the average Hg(II) wet deposition flux measured at 5 of the 10 research sites during the same period was 2.3 ± 0.3 µg Hg m−2, which was 4 times lower than the site-averaged foliar uptake flux of 10 ± 3 µg Hg m−2. Scaling up site-specific foliar uptake rates to the forested area of Europe resulted in a total foliar Hg uptake flux of approximately 20 ± 3 Mg during the 2018 growing season. Considering that the same flux applies to the global land area of temperate forests, we estimate a foliar Hg uptake flux of 108 ± 18 Mg. Our data indicate that foliar Hg uptake is a major deposition pathway to terrestrial surfaces in Europe. The bottom-up approach provides a promising method to quantify foliar Hg uptake fluxes on an ecosystem scale.

A tale of three cities: Mercury in urban deciduous foliage and soils across land-uses in Poughkeepsie NY, Hartford CT, and Springfield MA USA.

Mercury is a global pollutant that harms human and wildlife health through chronic exposure. The role of urban forests in Hg biogeochemistry has been understudied in cities without historical mining or current coal combustion. This study aimed to quantify total Hg concentrations and pools in urban forests to determine whether adjacent land-use impacts Hg accumulation. Three cities in the northeastern United States were studied: Hartford, Connecticut; Poughkeepsie, New York; and Springfield, Massachusetts. We identified ~20 urban forests sites in a ~10km by ~10km grid for each city and sampled foliage and soil at each site. Foliage from Populus exhibited significantly lower Hg concentrations (15.6±2.1ngg-1) than mean foliar Hg concentrations (23.7±0.6ngg-1) but most deciduous genera had comparable concentrations. Average forest floor Hg concentrations (195±21ngg-1) and Hg pools (1.9±0.5mgm-2) were similar to previous, non-urban studies in the region. Average A horizon (182±19ngg-1) and B horizon (125±14ngg-1) Hg concentrations were double those of regional forest soils. Mineral soil Hg pools for the top 30cm (49±6mgm-2) averaged two to ten times higher than rural, montane forests in the region. Soil pH, LOI, and %clay were poorly correlated with mineral soil Hg concentrations. Instead, highest foliar and soil Hg concentrations and pools were in urban forests adjacent to high and medium intensity developed areas in Springfield and Hartford. To differentiate the impact of land-uses not captured by the National Land Cover Database (NLCD) system, we implemented new land-use categories. Industrial areas had highest foliar and soil Hg concentrations and pools of any land use. Our results show increasing land-use increases Hg accumulation in urban forests.

Mercury in tundra vegetation of Alaska: Spatial and temporal dynamics and stable isotope patterns

Vegetation uptake of atmospheric mercury (Hg) is an important mechanism enhancing atmospheric Hg deposition via litterfall and senescence. We here report Hg concentrations and pool sizes of different plant functional groups and plant species across nine tundra sites in northern Alaska. Significant spatial differences were observed in bulk vegetation Hg concentrations at Toolik Field station (52 ± 9 μg kg−1), Eight Mile Lake Observatory (40 ± 0.2 μg kg−1), and seven sites along a transect from Toolik Field station to the Arctic coast (36 ± 9 μg kg−1). Hg concentrations in non-vascular vegetation including feather and peat moss (58 ± 6 μg kg−1 and 34 ± 2 μg kg−1, respectively) and brown and white lichen (41 ± 2 μg kg−1 and 34 ± 2 μg kg−1, respectively), were three to six times those of vascular plant tissues (8 ± 1 μg kg−1 in dwarf birch leaves and 9 ± 1 μg kg−1 in tussock grass). A high representation of nonvascular vegetation in aboveground biomass resulted in substantial Hg mass contained in tundra aboveground vegetation (29 μg m−2), which fell within the range of foliar Hg mass estimated for forests in the United States (15 to 45 μg m−2) in spite of much shorter growing seasons.Hg stable isotope signatures of different plant species showed that atmospheric Hg(0) was the dominant source of Hg to tundra vegetation. Mass-dependent isotope signatures (δ202Hg) in vegetation relative to atmospheric Hg(0) showed pronounced shifts towards lower values, consistent with previously reported isotopic fractionation during foliar uptake of Hg(0). Mass-independent isotope signatures (Δ199Hg) of lichen were more positive relative to atmospheric Hg(0), indicating either photochemical reduction of Hg(II) or contributions of inorganic Hg(II) from atmospheric deposition and/or dust. Δ199Hg and Δ200Hg values in vascular plant species were similar to atmospheric Hg(0) suggesting that overall photochemical reduction and subsequent re-emission was relatively insignificant in these tundra ecosystems, in agreement with previous Hg(0) ecosystem flux measurements.

Atmosphere-terrestrial exchange of gaseous elemental mercury: parameterization improvement through direct comparison with measured ecosystem fluxes.

To simulate global mercury (Hg) dynamics in chemical transport models (CTMs), surface-atmosphere exchange of gaseous elemental mercury, Hg0, is often parameterized based on resistance-based dry deposition schemes coupled with a re-emission function, mainly from soils. Despite extensive use of this approach, direct evaluations of this implementation against field observations of net Hg0 exchange are lacking. In this study, we evaluate an existing net exchange parameterization (referred to here as the base model) by comparing modeled fluxes of Hg0 to fluxes measured in the field using micrometeorological techniques. Comparisons were performed in two terrestrial ecosystems: a grassland site in Switzerland and an Arctic tundra site in Alaska, U.S., each including summer and winter seasons. The base model included the dry deposition and soil re-emission parameterizations from Zhang et al. (2003) and the global CTM GEOS-Chem, respectively. Comparisons of modeled and measured Hg0 fluxes showed large discrepancies, particularly in the summer months when the base model overestimated daytime net deposition by approximately 9 and 2 ng m-2 h-1 at the grassland and tundra sites, respectively. In addition, the base model was unable to capture a measured nighttime net Hg0 deposition and wintertime deposition. We conducted a series of sensitivity analyses and recommend that Hg simulations using CTMs: (i) reduce stomatal uptake of Hg0 over grassland and tundra in models by a factor 5-7; (ii) increase nighttime net Hg0 deposition, e.g., by increasing ground and cuticular uptake by reducing the respective resistance terms by factors of 3-4 and 2-4, respectively; and (iii) implement a new soil re-emission parameterization to produce larger daytime emissions and lower nighttime emissions. We also compared leaf Hg0 uptake over the growing season estimated by the dry deposition model against foliar Hg measurements, which revealed good agreement with the measured leaf Hg concentrations after adjusting the base model as suggested above. We conclude that the use of resistance-based models combined with the new soil re-emission flux parameterization is able to reproduce observed diel and seasonal patterns of Hg0 exchange in these ecosystems. This approach can be used to improve model parameterizations for other ecosystems if flux measurements become available.

Results of a controlled field experiment to assess the use of tree tissue concentrations as bioindicators of air Hg

The utility of trees as bioindicators of atmospheric mercury (Hg) depends upon how accurately tree tissue concentrations reflect air-Hg concentrations at a given location and time. The relationship between air-Hg, and Hg concentration in tree tissues was investigated using potted Pinus nigra (Austrian pine) saplings 6 to 7 years in age moved from a tree farm in Oregon, USA, to three locations with different weather, two with different air total Hg (THg) concentrations, all with different predominant gaseous oxidized Hg chemistry, and one being impacted by the marine boundary layer. An aqueous Hg bromide root spike showed no significant effect on above ground tissue concentration. Over two growing seasons, needles, bark, and tree rings were sampled and analyzed for THg concentrations to compare with those collected when the trees originally arrived in Reno, NV (control) versus that measured in the new locations. Overall, foliar Hg concentrations increased significantly at all new locations relative to the control. Spring sample concentrations were lower than fall for foliage at two locations, indicating resorption of Hg along with nutrients. All trees had higher mean Hg concentrations in the outermost tree rings relative to the control, consistent with increased air total Hg concentrations and changing air chemistry. Higher concentrations were measured in the outer bark of trees where ambient GOM concentrations were highest. Higher inner bark concentrations were correlated with the more humid location where high methylmercury concentrations have been measured in fog. Results demonstrated that Pinus nigra tissues are effective biomonitors for air Hg exposures and that translocation from leaves to rings via the phloem is an important pathway for sequestration in plant tissue. We also show that plants are active assimilators of atmospheric Hg, and as such, local environmental conditions influence ring, bark, and foliage concentrations. The latter has important implications for understanding tissue Hg concentrations, and supports the use of tree ring Hg concentrations as archives.

Stable Isotope Evidence Shows Re-emission of Elemental Mercury Vapor Occurring after Reductive Loss from Foliage.

The mechanism of elemental mercury (Hg0) re-emission from vegetation to the atmosphere is currently poorly understood. In this study, we investigated branch-level Hg0 atmosphere-foliage exchange in a pristine evergreen forest by systematically combining Hg isotopic composition, air concentration and flux measurements to unravel process information. It is found that the foliage represents a diurnally changing sink for atmospheric Hg0 and its Hg content increases with leaf age and mass. Atmospheric Hg0 is the dominant source of foliar Hg and the involvement of HgII is not supported by isotopic evidence. Upon Hg0 uptake, maturing foliage becomes progressively enriched in lighter Hg isotopes and depleted in odd mass isotopes. The measured isotopic composition of foliage Hg and isotopic shift caused by Hg0 evasion from foliage supports that Hg0 emitted from foliage is derived from Hg previously metabolized and bound in the leaf interior then subsequently recycled after reduction, and not merely a retroflux of recently deposited Hg0 on foliar surface. An isotopic differential mass balance model indicates that the proportion of foliar Hg0 efflux to uptake gradually increase from emergence to senescence with an average flux ratio of 30%.

Biogenesis of Mercury-Sulfur Nanoparticles in Plant Leaves from Atmospheric Gaseous Mercury.

Plant leaves serve both as a sink for gaseous elemental mercury (Hg) from the atmosphere and a source of toxic mercury to terrestrial ecosystems. Litterfall is the primary deposition pathway of atmospheric Hg to vegetated soils, yet the chemical form of this major Hg input remains elusive. We report the first observation of in vivo formation of mercury sulfur nanoparticles in intact leaves of 22 native plants from six different species across two sampling areas from China. The plants grew naturally in soils from a mercury sulfide mining and retorting region at ambient-air gaseous-Hg concentrations ranging from 131 ± 19 to 636 ± 186 ng m-3 and had foliar Hg concentration between 1.9 and 31.1 ng Hg mg-1 dry weight (ppm). High energy resolution X-ray absorption near-edge structure (HR-XANES) spectroscopy shows that up to 57% of the acquired Hg is nanoparticulate, and the remainder speciated as a bis-thiolate complex (Hg(SR)2). The fractional amount of nanoparticulate Hg is not correlated with Hg concentration. Variation likely depends on leaf age, plant physiology, and natural variability. Nanoparticulate Hg atoms are bonded to four sulfide or thiolate sulfur atoms arranged in a metacinnabar-type (β-HgS) coordination environment. The nanometer dimension of the mercury-sulfur clusters outmatches the known binding capacity of plant metalloproteins. These findings give rise to challenging questions on their exact nature, how they form, and their biogeochemical reactivity and fate in litterfall, whether this mercury pool is recycled or stored in soils. This study provides new evidence that metacinnabar-type nanoparticles are widespread in oxygenated environments.

Evidence for Nonstomatal Uptake of Hg by Aspen and Translocation of Hg from Foliage to Tree Rings in Austrian Pine.

To determine whether trees are reliable biomonitors of air mercury (Hg) pollution concentrations were measured in bark, foliage, and tree rings. Data were developed using 4-year old Pinus and Populus trees grown from common genetic stock in Oregon and subsequently transferred to four air treatments differing in gaseous oxidized mercury (GOM) chemistry and total gaseous Hg (TGM) concentrations. Soil of a subset of trees was spiked with HgBr2 in solution to test for root uptake. Results indicate no significant effect of the soil spike or GOM compounds on tree tissue Hg concentrations. TGM treatment had a significant effect on Pinus and Populus foliage, and Pinus year 5 growth ring concentrations. Populus foliar Hg concentrations were highest in the exposure where 24 h TGM concentrations were highest, indicating the importance of the nonstomatal pathway for uptake. Pinus tree ring concentrations were correlated to day time TGM concentrations suggesting Hg accumulation into tree rings is by way of the stomata and subsequent translocation by way of phloem. Populus leaves and Pinus rings can be used as biomonitors for TGM concentrations over space. However, the use of trees as temporal proxies requires further investigation due to radial translocation observed in active sapwood tree rings.

Measuring mercury in wood: challenging but important

ABSTRACTMercury (Hg) in tree wood has been overlooked, in part because concentrations are so low as to be below detection limits of some analytical methods, but it is potentially important to forest ecosystem processes and budgets. We tested methods for the preparation and determination of Hg in tree wood by analysing samples of four tree species at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest, New Hampshire, USA, using thermal decomposition, catalytic conversion, amalgamation and atomic absorption spectrophotometry (USEPA Method 7473). Samples that were freeze-dried or oven-dried at 65°C were suitable for determination of Hg, whereas oven-drying at 103°C resulted in Hg losses, and air-drying resulted in Hg gains, presumably due to sorption from indoor air. Mean (±SE) concentrations of Hg tree bole wood were 1.75 ± 0.14 ng g−1 for American beech, 1.48 ± 0.23 ng g−1 for sugar maple, 3.96 ± 0.19 ng g−1 for red spruce and 4.59 ± 0.06 ng g−1 for balsam fir. Based on these concentrations and estimates of wood biomass by species based on stand inventory, we estimated the Hg content of wood in the reference watershed at Hubbard Brook to be 0.32 g ha−1, twice the size of the foliar Hg pool (0.15 g ha−1). Mercury in wood deserves more attention and is feasible to measure using appropriate techniques.

A synthesis of terrestrial mercury in the western United States: Spatial distribution defined by land cover and plant productivity

A synthesis of published vegetation mercury (Hg) data across 11 contiguous states in the western United States showed that aboveground biomass concentrations followed the order: leaves (26μgkg−1)~branches (26μgkg−1)>bark (16μgkg−1)>bole wood (1μgkg−1). No spatial trends of Hg in aboveground biomass distribution were detected, which likely is due to very sparse data coverage and different sampling protocols. Vegetation data are largely lacking for important functional vegetation types such as shrubs, herbaceous species, and grasses.Soil concentrations collected from the published literature were high in the western United States, with 12% of observations exceeding 100μgkg−1, reflecting a bias toward investigations in Hg-enriched sites. In contrast, soil Hg concentrations from a randomly distributed data set (1911 sampling points; Smith et al., 2013a) averaged 24μgkg−1 (A-horizon) and 22μgkg−1 (C-horizon), and only 2.6% of data exceeded 100μgkg−1. Soil Hg concentrations significantly differed among land covers, following the order: forested upland>planted/cultivated>herbaceous upland/shrubland>barren soils. Concentrations in forests were on average 2.5 times higher than in barren locations. Principal component analyses showed that soil Hg concentrations were not or weakly related to modeled dry and wet Hg deposition and proximity to mining, geothermal areas, and coal-fired power plants. Soil Hg distribution also was not closely related to other trace metals, but strongly associated with organic carbon, precipitation, canopy greenness, and foliar Hg pools of overlying vegetation. These patterns indicate that soil Hg concentrations are related to atmospheric deposition and reflect an overwhelming influence of plant productivity — driven by water availability — with productive landscapes showing high soil Hg accumulation and unproductive barren soils and shrublands showing low soil Hg values. Large expanses of low-productivity, arid ecosystems across the western U.S. result in some of the lowest soil Hg concentrations observed worldwide.

Mercury uptake into poplar leaves.

Tailings dumps require mercury stabilization to prevent air pollution by evaporated mercury, which can be achieved through plant covers. Plants are considered a net sink for atmospheric Hg via incorporation into leaf tissues. However, most studies related to Hg uptake by plants have considered plants exposed to only atmospheric Hg, whereas in the case of tailings dumps, plants are potentially exposed to both soil and atmospheric Hg. The goal of this work is to evaluate the relative contributions of root and atmospheric pathways by growing poplar (Populus trichocarpa X Populus maximowiczii/var Skado) cuttings on either control or polluted substrates and under either natural or controlled exposure conditions. We showed that foliar Hg concentrations significantly increased with age, reaching 120 ng g(-1) dry mass when poplars were exposed to Hg-contaminated substrate under natural exposure. Remarkably, we did not observe significantly different Hg concentrations in poplar leaves grown on either the control or polluted substrates when cultivated together in growth chambers. Our set of data prompted us to conclude that Hg entry into poplar leaves is exclusively through an atmospheric pathway. Our results are discussed in line with existing literature.

Using foliar and forest floor mercury concentrations to assess spatial patterns of mercury deposition

We evaluated spatial patterns of mercury (Hg) deposition through analysis of foliage and forest floor samples from 45 sites across Adirondack Park, NY. Species-specific differences in foliar Hg were evident with the lowest concentrations found in first-year conifer needles and highest concentrations found in black cherry (Prunus serotina). For foliage and forest floor samples, latitude and longitude were negatively correlated with Hg concentrations, likely because of proximity to emission sources, while elevation was positively correlated with Hg concentrations. Elemental analysis showed moderately strong, positive correlations between Hg and nitrogen concentrations. The spatial pattern of Hg deposition across the Adirondacks is similar to patterns of other contaminants that originate largely from combustion sources such as nitrogen and sulfur. The results of this study suggest foliage can be used to assess spatial patterns of Hg deposition in small regions or areas of varied topography where current Hg deposition models are too coarse to predict deposition accurately.

Investigation of Uptake and Retention of Atmospheric Hg(II) by Boreal Forest Plants Using Stable Hg Isotopes

Although there is now a general consensus among mercury (Hg) biogeochemists that increased atmospheric inputs of inorganic Hg(II) to lakes and watersheds can result in increased methylmercury (MeHg) concentrations in fish, researchers still lack kinetic data describing the movement of Hg from the atmosphere, through watershed and lake ecosystems, and into fish. The use of isotopically enriched Hg species in environmental studies now allows experimentally applied new Hg to be distinguished from ambient Hg naturally present in the system. Four different enriched stable Hg(II) isotope "spikes" were applied sequentially over four years to the ground vegetation of a microcatchment at the Experimental Lakes Area (ELA) in the remote boreal forest of Canada to examine retention of Hg(II) following deposition. Areal masses of the spikes and ambient THg (all forms of Hg in a sample) were monitored for eight years, and the pattern of spike retention was used to estimate retention of newly deposited ambient Hg within the ground vegetation pool. Fifty to eighty percent of applied spike Hg was initially retained by ground vegetation. The areal mass of spike Hg declined exponentially over time and was best described by a first-order process with constants(k) ranging between 9.7 x 10(-40 day(-1) and 11.6 x 10(-4) day(-1). Average halflife (t1/2) of spike Hg within the ground vegetation pool (+/-S.D.) was 704 +/- 52 days. This retention of new atmospheric Hg(II) by vegetation delays movement of new Hg(II) into soil, runoff, and finally into adjacent lakes. Ground-applied Hg(II) spikes were not detected in tree foliage and litterfall, indicating that stomatal and/or root uptake of previously deposited Hg (i.e., "recycled" from ground vegetation or soil Hg pools) were likely not large sources of foliar Hg under these experimental conditions.

Investigation of mercury accumulation in cattails growing in constructed wetland mesocosms

ABSTRACT Only a few studies have investigated foliar air-surface exchange associated with wetland plants and none have investigated this exchange in an experimental setting as a function of different soil and water mercury (Hg) exposure concentrations or monitored foliar Hg concentrations. In this study, foliar total Hg (THg) and methyl Hg (MeHg) concentrations and foliar Hg flux were investigated using Typha latifolia growing within controlled mesocosms. Exposure scenarios included combinations of two soil exposure Hg concentrations (0.03–0.1 and 0.38–0.44 µg g−1), and two water exposure Hg concentrations (4–8 and 40–140 ng L−1). Soil and water Hg concentrations were not correlated with foliar total Hg concentrations or foliar Hg flux. Foliar Hg fluxes measured with a gas exchange chamber were low, and atmospheric deposition to foliage was the dominant flux for all exposures, except for those plants growing in the low Hg in water and soil scenario. Based on data developed, it is suggested that Hg concent...

Effects of mercury on visible/near-infrared reflectance spectra of mustard spinach plants ( Brassica rapa P.)

Mustard spinach plants were grown in mercury-spiked and contaminated soils collected in the field under controlled laboratory conditions over a full growth cycle to test if vegetation grown in these soils has discernible characteristics in visible/near-infrared (VNIR) spectra. Foliar Hg concentrations (0.174–3.993 ppm) of the Mustard spinach plants were positively correlated with Hg concentration of soils and varied throughout the growing season. Equations relating foliar Hg concentration to spectral reflectance, its first derivative, and selected vegetation indices were generated using stepwise multiple linear regression. Significant correlations are found for limited wavelengths for specific treatments and dates. Ratio Vegetation Index (RVI) and Red Edge Position (REP) values of plants in Hg-spiked and field-contaminated soils are significantly lower relative to control plants during the early and middle portions of the growth cycle which may be related to lower chlorophyll abundance or functioning in Hg-contaminated plants.