Date of Award
2014
Publication Type
Master Thesis
Degree Name
M.Sc.
Department
Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research
First Advisor
Haffner, Douglas
Keywords
Fish, Great Lakes, Mercury
Rights
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Abstract
This study explored Hg bioaccumulation with age in three Lake Huron lake trout populations, considering effects of growth and trophic dynamics. Hg concentrations and stable isotopes were measured in trout, smelt, round goby, zooplankton and zebra mussels. Trout populations demonstrated exponentially increasing Hg concentrations with age and revealed basin-specific accumulation patterns. High biomagnification Factor (BMF) correlated with low prey densities suggest that physiological and ecological factors regulating fish growth rates such as foraging efficiencies are important in regulating Hg bioaccumulation. Physiological processes affect Hg bioaccumulation, specifically elimination dynamics. Hg in liver, gonads, dorsal muscle, and remaining carcass in pre-spawn, spawning, and post-spawn yellow perch populations were investigated. Ratio of Hg in each tissue to whole-body Hg were different between male and female perch, as well as among pre-, during-, and post-spawning perch. Thus, changes in Hg tissue concentrations during spawning could result in high variability of Hg elimination rates.
Recommended Citation
Abma, Rachel, "Non-Steady State Mercury Bioaccumulation and Dynamics" (2014). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 5263.
https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/etd/5263