Mercury in landlocked Arctic char

Mercury in landlocked Arctic char We set out to examine possible links between climate warming and increases in mercury concentrations ([Hg]) in landlocked Arctic char (S. alpinus) in the High Arctic. Mercury concentrations vary regionally and have remained constant or increased slightly in landlocked char in lakes on Ellesmere Island and Cornwallis Island over a 12-16 year period. This, despite declining industrial mercury emissions in North America. Therefore, we hypothesized that climate warming might increase the input of mercury from catchments through permafrost melt, leading to greater associated body burden of adult char. To investigate the influence of the catchments on mercury, we selected coastal lakes of similar size in Arctic regions that vary in climatic conditions, to also include the influence of latitude on mercury concentrations in Arctic char. One lake, Pingualuit crater Lake in Nunavik, was selected as reference point for atmospheric deposition of mercury to a lake with minimal catchment area. Sampling of water and Arctic char was aided by local people between 2005 and 2007. Supplemental Information The Northern Contaminants Program (NCP, http://www.science.gc.ca/eic/site/063.nsf/eng/h_7A463DB A.html) was established in 1991 in response to concerns about human exposure to elevated levels of contaminants in wildlife species that are important to the traditional diets of northern Aboriginal peoples. Early studies found a wide variety of substances, many of which had no Arctic or Canadian sources, but which were, nevertheless, reaching unexpectedly high levels in the Arctic ecosystem. The Canadian Cryospheric Information Network (CCIN, https://www.ccin.ca/) and the Polar Data Catalogue (PDC, https://polardata.ca/) have been developed over the past two decades through collaborative partnerships between the University of Waterloo and numerous government, university, and private organizations to provide the data and information management infrastructure for the Canadian cryospheric community. The PDC is one of Canada’s primary online sources for data and information about the Arctic and is Canada's National Antarctica Data Centre. Polar Data Catalogue Canadian Cryospheric Information Network Metadata Record: https://www.polardata.ca/pdcsearch/PDCSearch.jsp?doi_id=914 2021-07-22 Environment and Climate Change Canada open-ouvert@tbs-sct.gc.ca Nature and EnvironmentNorthern Contaminants Program (NCP)Arctic CharFishesMercuryContaminantsChar LakeCornwallis IslandEllesmere IslandKent PeninsulaLake AmitukLake HazenUngava PeninsulaArcticArctic ecosystemsMercuryEnvironmentNature and Biodiversity - ContaminantsObservation/Measurement NCP LandlockedArcticChar Mercury Concentration EN_FR.csvCSV https://data-donnees.ec.gc.ca/data/substances/monitor/contaminant-and-biological-data-on-landlocked-arctic-char/mercury-in-landlocked-arctic-char/NCP_LandlockedArcticChar_Mercury_Concentration_EN_FR.csv Scientific Publication - Factors affecting biotic mercury concentrations and biomagnification through lake food webs in the Canadian high ArcticHTML https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2014.04.133 Scientific Publication - Mercury concentrations in landlocked Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus) from the Canadian Arctic. Part I: Insights from trophic relationships in 18 lakesHTML https://doi.org/10.1002/etc.95 Scientific Publication - Mercury concentrations in landlocked Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus) from the Canadian Arctic. Part II: Influence of lake biotic and abiotic characteristics on geographic trends in 27 populationsHTML https://doi.org/10.1002/etc.96 Scientific Publication - Mercury in freshwater ecosystems of the Canadian Arctic: Recent advances on its cycling and fateHTML https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2014.05.151 Scientific Publication - Temporal trends of mercury, cesium, potassium, selenium, and thallium in arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus) from Lake Hazen, Nunavut, Canada: Effects of trophic position, size, and ageHTML https://doi.org/10.1897/08-054.1 Scientific Publication - Variations in Stable Isotope Fractionation of Hg in Food Webs of Arctic LakesHTML https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/es901771r View ECCC Data Mart (English)HTML https://data-donnees.ec.gc.ca/data/substances/monitor/contaminant-and-biological-data-on-landlocked-arctic-char/mercury-in-landlocked-arctic-char/ View ECCC Data Mart (French)HTML https://data-donnees.ec.gc.ca/data/substances/monitor/contaminant-and-biological-data-on-landlocked-arctic-char/mercury-in-landlocked-arctic-char/?lang=fr

We set out to examine possible links between climate warming and increases in mercury concentrations ([Hg]) in landlocked Arctic char (S. alpinus) in the High Arctic. Mercury concentrations vary regionally and have remained constant or increased slightly in landlocked char in lakes on Ellesmere Island and Cornwallis Island over a 12-16 year period. This, despite declining industrial mercury emissions in North America. Therefore, we hypothesized that climate warming might increase the input of mercury from catchments through permafrost melt, leading to greater associated body burden of adult char. To investigate the influence of the catchments on mercury, we selected coastal lakes of similar size in Arctic regions that vary in climatic conditions, to also include the influence of latitude on mercury concentrations in Arctic char. One lake, Pingualuit crater Lake in Nunavik, was selected as reference point for atmospheric deposition of mercury to a lake with minimal catchment area. Sampling of water and Arctic char was aided by local people between 2005 and 2007.

Supplemental Information

The Northern Contaminants Program (NCP, http://www.science.gc.ca/eic/site/063.nsf/eng/h_7A463DB A.html) was established in 1991 in response to concerns about human exposure to elevated levels of contaminants in wildlife species that are important to the traditional diets of northern Aboriginal peoples. Early studies found a wide variety of substances, many of which had no Arctic or Canadian sources, but which were, nevertheless, reaching unexpectedly high levels in the Arctic ecosystem.

The Canadian Cryospheric Information Network (CCIN, https://www.ccin.ca/) and the Polar Data Catalogue (PDC, https://polardata.ca/) have been developed over the past two decades through collaborative partnerships between the University of Waterloo and numerous government, university, and private organizations to provide the data and information management infrastructure for the Canadian cryospheric community. The PDC is one of Canada’s primary online sources for data and information about the Arctic and is Canada's National Antarctica Data Centre.

Polar Data Catalogue Canadian Cryospheric Information Network Metadata Record:

https://www.polardata.ca/pdcsearch/PDCSearch.jsp?doi_id=914

Data and Resources

Geographic Information

Spatial Feature
Similar records