Relationship Between Methylmercury Contamination and Proportion of Aquatic and Terrestrial Prey in Diets of Shoreline Spiders

Citations Over TimeTop 18% of 2019 papers

Abstract

Terrestrial organisms such as shoreline spiders that consume prey from aquatic food webs can be contaminated with methylmercury (MeHg). However, no studies have examined the relationship between MeHg contamination of shoreline spider taxa and the proportion of aquatic and terrestrial prey in their diets. The present study had 2 objectives: 1) determine concentrations of MeHg in 7 taxa of shoreline spiders, and 2) assess the relationship between concentrations of MeHg in spiders and the proportion of aquatic and terrestrial prey in spider diets. We collected shoreline spiders, emergent aquatic insects, and terrestrial insects from in and around 10 experimental ponds. Methylmercury concentrations were greatest in spiders, intermediate in aquatic insects, and lowest in terrestrial insects. The elevated MeHg concentrations in spiders indicate that they were feeding, at least in part, on emergent aquatic insects. However, variability in MeHg concentration observed among spider taxa suggested that the proportion of aquatic and terrestrial prey in spider diets likely varied among taxa. We estimated the proportion of aquatic and terrestrial prey in the diet of each spider taxon from the nitrogen (δ15 N) and carbon (δ13 C) isotope values of spiders and their potential aquatic and terrestrial prey items. The median proportion of aquatic prey in spider diets varied by almost 2-fold, and MeHg concentrations in shoreline spiders were strongly correlated with the proportion of aquatic prey in their diet. In the present study, we demonstrate for the first time that the degree of connectivity to aquatic food webs determines MeHg contamination of shoreline spiders. Environ Toxicol Chem 2019;38:2503-2508. © 2019 SETAC.

Related Papers

• → Interactions between biofilms and PFASs in aquatic ecosystems: Literature exploration(2023)24 cited
• → Impact of dissolved organic matter and environmental factors on methylmercury concentrations across aquatic ecosystems inferred from a global dataset(2022)29 cited
• → Microplastics and it’s Impact on Aquatic Environment(2022)5 cited
• Analysis and risk assessment of total mercury and methylmercury in aquatic products in Beijing market(2010)
• [Research advance of toxicological risk of hospital wastewater to aquatic environment].(2006)