WCS 3-Sentence Science

Mercury in Northern Ontario Fish

January 9, 2020

CREDIT: ALEXANDRA SUMNER

Each year, Wildlife Conservation Society scientists publish more than 300 peer-reviewed studies and papers. “WCS 3-Sentence Science” is a regular tip-sheet — in bite sized helpings — of some of this published work.

Here we present work by WCS Canada’s Gretchen Lescord on the impact of climate change on mercury levels in the fish of northern Ontario, Canada.

1. Scientists investigated current patterns of mercury in walleye and white sucker across a climatic gradient in northern Ontario, Canada, to assess the possible influence of climate change, which is predicted to alter many processes in boreal aquatic ecosystems.
2. They found that drainage basin characteristics and lake water chemistry, not long-term mean temperatures or precipitation, were currently the strongest indicators of mercury in fish.
3. They conclude that mercury levels in fish is not strongly associated with current climatic conditions across northern Ontario but may be influenced by climate change in the future through indirect effects on water chemistry and food web structure.

Study and Journal: “Mercury bioaccumulation in lacustrine fish populations along a climatic gradient in northern Ontario, Canada” from Ecosystems
WCS Co-Author(s): Gretchen Lescord, WCS Canada

For more information, contact: Stephen Sautner, 718–220–3682, ssautner@wcs.org.