Mercury is a ubiquitous contaminant known to accumulate in wildlife,particularly bird species at higher trophic levels.Knowledge of tissue-specific Hg distributions aids our understanding of Hg bioaccumulation in orga...Mercury is a ubiquitous contaminant known to accumulate in wildlife,particularly bird species at higher trophic levels.Knowledge of tissue-specific Hg distributions aids our understanding of Hg bioaccumulation in organisms.In this study,one adult and three juvenile Collared Scops Owls(Otus lettia)were studied to elucidate the bioaccumulation of Hg in body tissues.Six tissues and organs(feathers,nails,heart,liver,gizzard,and muscle),as well as gastric contents,were examined for total Hg(THg)and methylmercury(MeHg)contents,Hg isotopic compositions including mass-dependent fractionation(MDF;δ202Hg)and mass-independent fractionation(MIF;Δ199Hg andΔ201Hg),and C(δ13C)and N(δ15N)isotopic compositions.Tissue-specific THg and MeHg concentrations in the adult were in the ranges of 150–1360 ng/g and17–1060 ng/g,and lower in the juveniles at 91–419 ng/g and 67–350 ng/g,respectively.Theδ^(202)Hg values in the adult were strongly negative at-1.75‰±0.17‰compared with the juveniles at-0.99‰±0.25‰.The adult exhibited lower MIF values than the juveniles,at0.23‰±0.07‰forΔ^(199)Hg and 0.2‰±0.11‰forΔ^(201)Hg,comparedwith0.81‰±0.09‰and0.66‰±0.07‰,respectively.The lower adult MDF and MIF values suggest that the adult tended to accumulate negative Hg isotopes but the juvenile's positive Hg isotopes.Differences between adult and juvenile tissue Hg concentrations indicate that metabolic processes play an important role in Hg accumulation.展开更多
基金supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China(NSFC No.42103080)。
文摘Mercury is a ubiquitous contaminant known to accumulate in wildlife,particularly bird species at higher trophic levels.Knowledge of tissue-specific Hg distributions aids our understanding of Hg bioaccumulation in organisms.In this study,one adult and three juvenile Collared Scops Owls(Otus lettia)were studied to elucidate the bioaccumulation of Hg in body tissues.Six tissues and organs(feathers,nails,heart,liver,gizzard,and muscle),as well as gastric contents,were examined for total Hg(THg)and methylmercury(MeHg)contents,Hg isotopic compositions including mass-dependent fractionation(MDF;δ202Hg)and mass-independent fractionation(MIF;Δ199Hg andΔ201Hg),and C(δ13C)and N(δ15N)isotopic compositions.Tissue-specific THg and MeHg concentrations in the adult were in the ranges of 150–1360 ng/g and17–1060 ng/g,and lower in the juveniles at 91–419 ng/g and 67–350 ng/g,respectively.Theδ^(202)Hg values in the adult were strongly negative at-1.75‰±0.17‰compared with the juveniles at-0.99‰±0.25‰.The adult exhibited lower MIF values than the juveniles,at0.23‰±0.07‰forΔ^(199)Hg and 0.2‰±0.11‰forΔ^(201)Hg,comparedwith0.81‰±0.09‰and0.66‰±0.07‰,respectively.The lower adult MDF and MIF values suggest that the adult tended to accumulate negative Hg isotopes but the juvenile's positive Hg isotopes.Differences between adult and juvenile tissue Hg concentrations indicate that metabolic processes play an important role in Hg accumulation.
