Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Total and Monomethyl Mercury in Terrestrial Arthropods from the Central California Coast

  • Published:
Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The aim of this project was to obtain a baseline understanding and investigate the concentration of mercury (Hg) in the tissue of terrestrial arthropods. The 4-month sampling campaign took place around Monterey Bay, California. Total mercury (HgT) concentrations (x ± SD, dry weight) for the captured specimens ranged from 22 to 188 ng g−1 in the Jerusalem crickets (Orthoptera: Stenopelmatidae); 65–233 ng g−1 in the camel crickets (Orthoptera: Rhaphidophoridae); 25–227 ng g−1 in the pill bugs (Isopoda: Armadillidiidae); 19–563 ng g−1 in the ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae); 140–441 ng g−1 in the variegated meadowhawk dragonflies (Odonata: Libellulidae); 607–657 ng g−1 in the pacific spiketail dragonflies (Odonata: Cordulegastridae); and 81–1,249 ng g−1 in the wolf spiders (Araneae: Lycosidae). A subset of samples analyzed for monomethyl mercury (MMHg) suggest detrital pill bugs have a higher MMHg/HgT ratio than predatory ground beetles.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Agency EPA (2013) Final Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) for Power Plants vol 78

  • Cristol DA et al (2008) The movement of aquatic mercury through terrestrial food webs science (Washington): 335 doi:10.1126/science.1154082

  • Azevedo J, Morgan DL (1974) Fog precipitation in coastal California forests. Ecology 55:1135–1141. doi:10.2307/1940364

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bloom N, Fitzgerald WF (1988) Determination of volatile mercury species at the picogram level by low-temperature gas-chromatography with cold-vapor atomic fluorescence detection. Anal Chim Acta 208:151–161. doi:10.1016/s0003-2670(00)80743-6

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Brasso RL, Cristol DA (2008) Effects of mercury exposure on the reproductive success of tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor). Ecotoxicology 17:133–141. doi:10.1007/s10646-007-0163-z

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Caffrey JM, Hollibaugh JT, Bano N, Haskins J (2010) Effects of upwelling on short-term variability in microbial and biogeochemical processes in estuarine sediments from Elkhorn Slough, California, USA. Aquat Microb Ecol 58:261–271. doi:10.3354/ame01387

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Capinera JL (2010) Insects and wildlife: arthropods and their relationships with wild vertebrate animals Insects and wildlife: arthropods and their relationships with wild vertebrate animals:i-viii, 1–487

  • Chanthy P, Martin RJ, Gunning RV, Andrew NR (2013) Arthropod survey on soybean crops in Cambodia: a comparison of the sweep netting and beat sheeting collection methods for estimating arthropod diversity and species richness. Aust J Entomol 52:299–308. doi:10.1111/aen.12035

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Compeau GC, Bartha R (1985) Sulfate-reducing bacteria–principal methylators of mercury in anoxic estuarine sediment. Appl Environ Microbiol 50:498–502

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dallinger R, Berger B, Birkel S (1992) Terrestrial isopods—useful biological indicators of urban metal pollution. Oecologia 89:32–41. doi:10.1007/bf00319012

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dawson TE (1998) Fog in the California redwood forest: ecosystem inputs and use by plants. Oecologia 117:476–485. doi:10.1007/s004420050683

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fitzgerald WF, Gill GA (1979) Sub-nanogram determination of mercury by 2-stage gold amalgamation and gas-phase detection applied to atmospheric analysis. Anal Chem 51:1714–1720. doi:10.1021/ac50047a030

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fitzgerald WF, Lamborg CH, Hammerschmidt CR (2007) Marine biogeochemical cycling of mercury. Chem Rev 107:641–662. doi:10.1021/cr050353m

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Greenslade PJM (1964) Pitfall trapping as a method for studying populations of carabidae (Coleoptera). J Anim Ecol 33:301–310. doi:10.2307/2632

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hammerschmidt CR, Fitzgerald WF (2005) Methylmercury in mosquitoes related to atmospheric mercury deposition and contamination. Environ Sci Technol 39:3034–3039. doi:10.1021/es0485107

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Henderson BL, Chumchal MM, Drenner RW, Deng Y, Diaz P, Nowlin WH (2012) Effects of fish on mercury contamination of macroinvertebrate communities of Grassland ponds. Environ Toxicol Chem 31:870–876. doi:10.1002/etc.1760

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ingraham NL, Matthews RA (1995) The importance of fog-drip water to vegetation—point-reyes peninsula, California. J Hydrol 164:269–285. doi:10.1016/0022-1694(94)02538-m

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kerin EJ, Gilmour CC, Roden E, Suzuki MT, Coates JD, Mason RP (2006) Mercury methylation by dissimilatory iron-reducing bacteria. Appl Environ Microbiol 72:7919–7921. doi:10.1128/aem.01602-06

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lavoie KH, Helf KL, Poulson TL (2007) The biology and ecology of North American cave crickets. J Caves Karst Stud 69:114–134

    Google Scholar 

  • Liang L, Bloom NS, Horvat M (1994) Simultaneous determination of mercury speciation in biological-materials by GC/CVAFS after ethylation and room-temperature precollection. Clin Chem 40:602–607

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Organization WHO (2010) Children’s exposure to mercury compounds

  • Punzo F, Farmer C (2006) Life history and ecology of the wolf spider Pardosa sierra banks (Araneae : Lycosidae) in Southeastern Arizona. Southwest Nat 51:310–319. doi:10.1894/0038-4909(2006)51[310:lhaeot]2.0.co;2

  • Rimmer CC, Miller EK, McFarland KP, Taylor RJ, Faccio SD (2010) Mercury bioaccumulation and trophic transfer in the terrestrial food web of a montane forest. Ecotoxicology 19:697–709. doi:10.1007/s10646-009-0443-x

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Scheulhammer AM, Meyer MW, Sandheinrich MB, Murray MW (2007) Effects of environmental methylmercury on the health of wild birds, mammals, and fish. Ambio 36:12–18. doi:10.1579/0044-7447(2007)36[12:eoemot]2.0.co;2

  • Udovic M, Drobne D, Lestan D (2009) Bioaccumulation in Porcellio scaber (Crustacea, Isopoda) as a measure of the EDTA remediation efficiency of metal-polluted soil. Environ Pollut 157:2822–2829. doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2009.04.023

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Weiss-Penzias PS et al (2012) Total and monomethyl mercury in fog water from the central California coast. Geophys Res Lett. doi:10.1029/2011gl050324

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang Z, Lu X, Wang Q, Zheng D (2009) Mercury, cadmium and lead biogeochemistry in the soil-plant-insect system in Huludao City. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 83:255–259. doi:10.1007/s00128-009-9688-6

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the Louis Stokes California Alliance for Minority Participation in STEM and the University of California at Santa Cruz (UCSC) Friends of Long Marine Laboratory for their financial support; members of the WIGS laboratory, especially Priya Ganguli, Christopher Conaway, and Robert Franks for their technical support; Christopher Lay, Jennifer Rojero and Paul Dvorson for their assistance in sampling; and lastly the Año Nuevo State Park Rangers for facilitating the access to Chalk Mountain.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Marine Science, University of California - Santa Cruz, 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064, USA

    Cruz Ortiz Jr., Peter S. Weiss-Penzias & A. Russell Flegal

  2. Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve, PO Box 267, Moss Landing, CA, 95039, USA

    Susanne Fork

  3. Department of Environmental Engineering Sciences, Engineering School of Sustainable Infrastructure and Environment, University of Florida, 412 Black Hall, PO Box 116450, Gainesville, FL, 32611-6450, USA

    Cruz Ortiz Jr.

Authors
  1. Cruz Ortiz Jr.
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Peter S. Weiss-Penzias
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Susanne Fork
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. A. Russell Flegal
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Cruz Ortiz Jr..

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Ortiz, C., Weiss-Penzias, P.S., Fork, S. et al. Total and Monomethyl Mercury in Terrestrial Arthropods from the Central California Coast. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 94, 425–430 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-014-1448-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-014-1448-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation