Am. Scheuhammer et Pj. Blancher, POTENTIAL RISK TO COMMON LOONS (GAVIA-IMMER) FROM METHYLMERCURY EXPOSURE IN ACIDIFIED LAKES, Hydrobiologia, 280, 1994, pp. 445-455
Piscivorous birds and mammals in areas remote from point sources of Hg
contamination may be exposed to dietary methylmercury concentrations
that are sufficiently high to cause reproductive impairment. Common lo
ons (Gavia immer) were observed to show aberrant nesting behavior and
low overall reproductive success when Hg concentrations in prey (small
fish and crayfish) averaged > 0.3 mug g-1 wet weight (Barr, 1986), le
vels known to occur in fish from many lakes in central Ontario. We use
d data on Hg in Ontario fish to estimate the proportion of lakes where
fish small enough for loons to eat (< 250 g) had Hg concentrations th
at exceeded estimated thresholds for reproductive impairment. Up to 30
% of lakes exceeded thresholds for reproductive impairment, depending
on the species of fish and the threshold Hg concentrations chosen. The
re was a significant negative correlation between fish-Hg concentratio
n and lake pH in most fish species examined. For these species, reduct
ions in sulfate deposition rates are predicted to result in a correspo
nding reduction of lakes in Ontario having fish with potentially toxic
concentrations of Hg.