Warming increases methylmercury production in an Arctic soil

Yang, Ziming; Fang, Wei; Lu, Xia; Sheng, Guo-Ping; Graham, David E.; Liang, Liyuan; Wullschleger, Stan D.; Gu, Baohua

doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2016.04.069

Warming increases methylmercury production in an Arctic soil

Journal Article · Fri Apr 29 00:00:00 EDT 2016 · Environmental Pollution

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2016.04.069· OSTI ID:1319169

Yang, Ziming ^[1]; Fang, Wei ^[2]; Lu, Xia ^[1]; Sheng, Guo-Ping ^[3]; Graham, David E. ^[4]; Liang, Liyuan ^[5]; Wullschleger, Stan D. ^[6]; ^[1]

Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Environmental Sciences Division
Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Environmental Sciences Division; Univ. of Science and Technology of China, Hefei (China). CAS Key Lab. for Urban Pollutant Conversion
Univ. of Science and Technology of China, Hefei (China). CAS Key Lab. for Urban Pollutant Conversion
Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Biosciences Division
Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Environmental Sciences Division and Biology and Soft Matter Division
Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Environmental Sciences Division and Climate Change Science Inst.

The rapid temperature rise in Arctic permafrost concerns not only the degradation of stored soil organic carbon (SOC) and climate feedback, but also the production and bioaccumulation of methylmercury (MeHg) that may endanger humans, as well as wildlife in terrestrial, aquatic, and marine ecosystems. Decomposition of SOC provides an energy source for microbial methylation, although little is known how rapid permafrost thaw affects Hg methylation and how SOC degradation is coupled to MeHg biosynthesis. We describe rates of MeHg production in Arctic soils from an 8-month warming microcosm experiment under anoxic conditions. MeHg production increased >10 fold in both organic- and the mineral-rich soil layers at a warmer temperature (8 C) compared to a sub-zero temperature ( 2 C). MeHg production was positively correlated to methane and ferrous ion concentrations, suggesting that Hg methylation is coupled with methanogenesis and iron reduction. Labile SOC, such as reducing sugars and alcohol, were particularly effective in fueling the initial rapid biosynthesis of MeHg. In freshly amended Hg we found that there was more bioavailable than existing Hg in the mineral soil. Finally, the data indicate that climate warming and permafrost thaw could greatly enhance MeHg production, thereby impacting Arctic aquatic and marine ecosystems through biomagnification in the food web.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER) (SC-23)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC05-00OR22725

OSTI ID:: 1319169

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1341459
OSTI ID: 22705960

Journal Information:: Environmental Pollution, Journal Name: Environmental Pollution Journal Issue: C Vol. 214; ISSN 0269-7491

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Warming increases methylmercury production in an Arctic soil

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