Jason D. Demers
Published: 2009
Total Pages: 0
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Anthropogenic emissions of mercury into the atmosphere have increased mercury deposition that, in turn, has led to a large legacy of mercury accumulation in terrestrial ecosystems and increased mercury contamination of surface waters. Despite efforts to control anthropogenic emissions of mercury, it is possible that release of mercury historically deposited to forests and wetlands will moderate the recovery of aquatic ecosystems. This research examined the biogeochemical cycling of mercury in different wetland types in the Adirondack region of New York and in a forested headwater catchment during snowmelt at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest (HBEF) in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Mercury pool size varied across the upland-wetland interface, among wetland types, across individual wetland transects, and along depth profiles in soils of forests and wetlands of the Adirondack region. In mineral horizons of uplands and shallow peat riparian wetlands, mercury was strongly correlated with carbon (p=0.002, r2=0.73), and nitrogen (p0.001, r2=0.82), but not sulfur. In contrast, there was a strong correlation between mercury and sulfur in peat of headwater wetlands (p