College of Wildlife and Protected Area, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, 150040, China.
Key Laboratory of Wetland Ecology and Environment, Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, Jilin Province 130102, China.
Sci Total Environ. 2024 Jun 10;928:172290. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.172290. Epub 2024 Apr 8.
The contamination of wetlands by heavy metals, exacerbated by agricultural activities, presents a threat to both organisms and humans. Heavy metals may undergo trophic transfer through the food web. However, the methods for quantifying the bioaccumulation and trophic transfer processes of heavy metals based on the food web remains unclear. In this study, we employed stable isotope technology to construct a quantitative oriental white stork's typical food web model under a more accurate scaled ΔN framework. On this basis, the concentrations for heavy metal (Cu, Zn, Hg, Pb) were analyzed, we innovatively visualized the trophic transfer process of heavy metals across 13 nodes and 45 links and quantified the transfer flux based on the diet proportions and heavy metal concentrations of species, taking into account biomagnification effects and potential risks. Our findings revealed that as for Cu and Pb, the transfer flux level was consistent with diet proportion across most links. While Hg and Zn transfer flux level exceeded the corresponding diet proportion in the majority of links. In summary, Hg exhibited a significant biomagnification, whereas Cu, Zn, Pb experienced biodilution. The fish dietary health risk assessment for fish consumers showed that Hg, Pb posed certain risks. This research marks a significant step forward in the quantitative assessment of multi-link networks involving heavy metals within the food web.
湿地受到重金属污染，再加上农业活动的影响，对生物和人类都构成了威胁。重金属可能通过食物链发生营养转移。然而，基于食物链量化重金属生物积累和营养转移过程的方法尚不清楚。在这项研究中，我们采用稳定同位素技术，在更精确的 ΔN 框架下构建了一个定量的东方白鹳典型食物网模型。在此基础上，分析了重金属（Cu、Zn、Hg、Pb）的浓度，我们创新性地可视化了 13 个节点和 45 个链接之间重金属的营养转移过程，并根据物种的饮食比例和重金属浓度，考虑生物放大效应和潜在风险，量化了转移通量。研究结果表明，对于 Cu 和 Pb，大多数链接中转移通量水平与饮食比例一致。而 Hg 和 Zn 的转移通量水平在大多数链接中超过了相应的饮食比例。总的来说，Hg 表现出显著的生物放大效应，而 Cu、Zn、Pb 则经历了生物稀释。鱼类消费者的鱼类饮食健康风险评估表明，Hg 和 Pb 存在一定的风险。这项研究标志着在量化食物网中多链接网络中重金属方面的重大进展。
