Vermont Center for Ecostudies, P.O. Box 420, Norwich, VT 05055, USA.
Ecotoxicology. 2010 Apr;19(4):697-709. doi: 10.1007/s10646-009-0443-x. Epub 2009 Dec 4.
We investigated mercury (Hg) concentrations in a terrestrial food web in high elevation forests in Vermont. Hg concentrations increased from autotrophic organisms to herbivores < detritivores < omnivores < carnivores. Within the carnivores studied, raptors had higher blood Hg concentrations than their songbird prey. The Hg concentration in the blood of the focal study species, Bicknell's thrush (Catharus bicknelli), varied over the course of the summer in response to a diet shift related to changing availability of arthropod prey. The Bicknell's thrush food web is more detrital-based (with higher Hg concentrations) in early summer and more foliage-based (with lower Hg concentrations) during late summer. There were significant year effects in different ecosystem compartments indicating a possible connection between atmospheric Hg deposition, detrital-layer Hg concentrations, arthropod Hg concentrations, and passerine blood Hg concentrations.
我们研究了佛蒙特州高海拔森林中陆地食物网中的汞（Hg）浓度。Hg 浓度从自养生物到草食动物<腐食动物<杂食动物<肉食动物逐渐增加。在所研究的肉食动物中，猛禽的血液 Hg 浓度高于其鸣禽猎物。在研究物种 Bicknell 的画眉（Catharus bicknelli）的血液中，Hg 浓度在夏季随着与节肢动物猎物可利用性变化相关的饮食变化而变化。Bicknell 的画眉食物网在初夏更依赖于碎屑（Hg 浓度更高），而在夏末更依赖于叶片（Hg 浓度更低）。不同生态系统隔室存在显著的年份效应，表明大气 Hg 沉积、碎屑层 Hg 浓度、节肢动物 Hg 浓度和雀形目血液 Hg 浓度之间可能存在联系。
