| Abstract Title: | Potential for Use of Mercury as a Tracer of Hypoxia?s Effects in Fresh and Marine Waters |
| Presenter Name: | N. Roxanna Razavi |
| Company/Institution: | SUNY ESF |
| Session: | Predicting the Impacts of Climate Change on Hg Cycling |
| Co-Authors: | N. Roxanna Razavi |
Abstract Information :
Mercury is a global pollutant and potent neurotoxicant with well-described properties of bioaccumulation and biomagnification in aquatic food webs. However, due to its redox sensitive nature, the enhanced production of methylmercury in low oxygen conditions may make mercury a useful tracer of hypoxia, a rising issue facing fresh and marine waters globally. Here, we review mechanisms of hypoxia?s potential to change fish habitat use, trophic interactions, and frequency of harmful algal blooms, and evaluate mercury?s potential to track these changes along with other traditional tracers such as stable isotopes. We investigate these linkages in flowing waters, lakes, reservoirs, coastal waters and the open ocean. Assessing the consequences of increasing hypoxia on aquatic food webs is a critical need under a changing climate with implications for human and ecosystem health.
