Biodiversity Research Institute, 19 Flaggy Meadow Road, Gorham, ME 04038, USA.
Environ Pollut. 2011 Dec;159(12):3302-8. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2011.08.046. Epub 2011 Sep 8.
Mercury (Hg) is a persistent environmental contaminant found in many freshwater and marine ecosystems. Historical Hg contamination in rivers can impact the surrounding terrestrial ecosystem, but there is little known about how far downstream this contamination persists. In 2009, we sampled terrestrial forest songbirds at five floodplain sites up to 137 km downstream of an historical source of Hg along the South and South Fork Shenandoah Rivers (Virginia, USA). We found that blood total Hg concentrations remained elevated over the entire sampling area and there was little evidence of decline with distance. While it is well known that Hg is a pervasive and long-lasting aquatic contaminant, it has only been recently recognized that it also biomagnifies effectively in floodplain forest food webs. This study extends the area of concern for terrestrial habitats near contaminated rivers for more than 100 km downstream from a waterborne Hg point source.
汞（Hg）是一种持久性的环境污染物，存在于许多淡水和海洋生态系统中。历史上河流中的汞污染会影响周围的陆地生态系统，但人们对这种污染能持续到多远的下游知之甚少。2009 年，我们在南叉和南叉谢南多厄河（美国弗吉尼亚州）一条历史上汞污染源的下游 137 公里处的五个洪泛区地点对陆生森林鸣禽进行了采样。我们发现，整个采样区域的血液总汞浓度仍然很高，而且没有明显的随距离下降的证据。虽然众所周知汞是一种普遍存在且持久的水生污染物，但最近才认识到它在洪泛区森林食物网中也能有效地生物放大。本研究将关注点扩展到了受污染河流下游超过 100 公里的陆地栖息地，这些栖息地受到水汞点源的影响。
