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A Causal Analysis for the Dominant Factor in the Extreme Geographic and Temporal Variability in Mercury Biomagnification in the Everglades

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Mercury and the Everglades. A Synthesis and Model for Complex Ecosystem Restoration

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Abstract

The objective of this chapter is to assemble and evaluate existing evidence (both from within and outside the Everglades) in a formal, causal analysis using criteria-guided judgement to determine the cause of the observed susceptibility of the Everglades to high rates of Hg biomagnification and its extreme geographic and temporal variability.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Site 3A-15 had been previously well established as a Hg bioaccumulation “hot spot” and was a site of intense interest with respect to temporal trends in fish tissue Hg concentrations and causative factors, including the role of sulfate. Dynamic modeling using the Everglades Mercury Cycling Model (E-MCM) to test various causative factors is the subject of Chap. 4, Volume III.

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  1. Florida Gulf Coast University, Fort Myers, FL, USA

    Darren G. Rumbold

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  1. Darren G. Rumbold
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  1. Coastal Watershed Institute, Florida Gulf Coast University, Fort Myers, FL, USA

    Darren G. Rumbold

  2. Aqua Lux Lucis, Inc, Gainesville, FL, USA

    Curtis D. Pollman

  3. Institute of Public Health, Florida A&M University, Tallahassee, FL, USA

    Donald M. Axelrad

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Rumbold, D.G. (2019). A Causal Analysis for the Dominant Factor in the Extreme Geographic and Temporal Variability in Mercury Biomagnification in the Everglades. In: Rumbold, D., Pollman, C., Axelrad, D. (eds) Mercury and the Everglades. A Synthesis and Model for Complex Ecosystem Restoration. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-32057-7_3

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