Abstract
The biomagnification of Hg and Se was studied using nitrogen stable isotope analysis during four seasons in a coastal lagoon of the eastern central Gulf of California. This lagoon receives agricultural, municipal, and shrimp aquaculture effluents. The species were categorized into organism groups and presented a significant accumulation of Hg and Se with respect to the sources, while the concentration of both elements in sediment and suspended particulate matter (SPM) was low. Our data confirms the positive transfers (biomagnification factors >1) of Hg and Se in the entire studied food web, and it was structured in five trophic levels across all seasons. Additionally, there were no linear correlations between the molar Se:Hg ratios and the trophic levels of the organism groups. However, the Se:Hg ratios among organism groups were >1, which indicates that there is an excess of Se and that it is not a limiting factor for the detoxification of Hg.
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Data availability
The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank G. Leyva-García, D. Aguilera-Márquez, A. Martínez-Durazo, and M. del Río-Salas for their technical support in sample collection and preparation. We also thank Dr. Chris Eastoe and his work group of the Environmental Isotope Laboratory of the Department of Geosciences of the University of Arizona at Tucson, AZ, USA, for the use of their facilities for the stable isotope analyses.
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This study was funded by the Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología de México (grant number CONACYT CB-2008-C01-103522).
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AMG sampled, processed, and analyzed sediment and biota samples. JGH designed the sampling and sampled, processed, and analyzed avifauna samples. MFSJ interpreted stable isotopes data. FPO interpreted Hg and Se data. MEJM designed the sampling, processed and analyzed sediment and biota samples, performed the dataset, and was a major contributor in writing the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Molina-García, A., García-Hernández, J., Soto-Jiménez, M.F. et al. Mercury and selenium biomagnification in a coastal food web from the Gulf of California influenced by agriculture and shrimp aquaculture. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 56175–56187 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-14524-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-14524-y