Abstract

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.

Details

Title
Tree foliage as a net accumulator of highly toxic methylmercury
Author
Stinson, Idus 1 ; Li, Han-Han 2 ; Tsui, Martin Tsz-Ki 3 ; Ku, Peijia 4 ; Ulus, Yener 5 ; Cheng, Zhang 6 ; Lam, Hon-Ming 7 

 University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Department of Biology, Greensboro, USA (GRID:grid.266860.c) (ISNI:0000 0001 0671 255X) 
 Southwest University of Science and Technology, School of Life Science and Engineering, Mianyang, China (GRID:grid.440649.b) (ISNI:0000 0004 1808 3334) 
 University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Department of Biology, Greensboro, USA (GRID:grid.266860.c) (ISNI:0000 0001 0671 255X); The Chinese University of Hong Kong, School of Life Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology, Shatin, Hong Kong SAR, China (GRID:grid.10784.3a) (ISNI:0000 0004 1937 0482); The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Institute of Environment, Energy and Sustainability, Shatin, Hong Kong SAR, China (GRID:grid.10784.3a) (ISNI:0000 0004 1937 0482) 
 University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Department of Biology, Greensboro, USA (GRID:grid.266860.c) (ISNI:0000 0001 0671 255X); Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Environmental Sciences Division, Oak Ridge, USA (GRID:grid.135519.a) (ISNI:0000 0004 0446 2659) 
 University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Department of Biology, Greensboro, USA (GRID:grid.266860.c) (ISNI:0000 0001 0671 255X); Davidson College, Department of Environmental Studies, Davidson, USA (GRID:grid.254902.8) (ISNI:0000 0001 0531 1535) 
 Sichuan Agricultural University, College of Environment, Chengdu, China (GRID:grid.80510.3c) (ISNI:0000 0001 0185 3134) 
 The Chinese University of Hong Kong, School of Life Sciences, State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology, Shatin, Hong Kong SAR, China (GRID:grid.10784.3a) (ISNI:0000 0004 1937 0482); The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Institute of Environment, Energy and Sustainability, Shatin, Hong Kong SAR, China (GRID:grid.10784.3a) (ISNI:0000 0004 1937 0482) 
Pages
1757
Publication year
2024
Publication date
2024
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
e-ISSN
20452322
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2916554401
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2024. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.