Tree foliage as a net accumulator of highly toxic methylmercury
[4];
- University of North Carolina at Greensboro, NC (United States)
- Southwest University of Science and Technology, Mianyang (China)
- University of North Carolina at Greensboro, NC (United States); The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin (Hong Kong)
- University of North Carolina at Greensboro, NC (United States); Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
- University of North Carolina at Greensboro, NC (United States); Davidson College, NC (United States)
- Sichuan Univ., Chengdu (China)
- The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin (Hong Kong)
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.
- Research Organization:
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE; National Science Foundation (NSF); USDA NIFA; Chinese University of Hong Kong
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC05-00OR22725
- OSTI ID:
- 2447229
- Journal Information:
- Scientific Reports, Journal Name: Scientific Reports Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 14; ISSN 2045-2322
- Publisher:
- Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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