TY - JOUR
T1 - Amazon forests capture high levels of atmospheric mercury pollution from artisanal gold mining
AU - Gerson, Jacqueline R.
AU - Szponar, Natalie
AU - Zambrano, Angelica Almeyda
AU - Bergquist, Bridget
AU - Broadbent, Eben
AU - Driscoll, Charles T.
AU - Erkenswick, Gideon
AU - Evers, David C.
AU - Fernandez, Luis E.
AU - Hsu-Kim, Heileen
AU - Inga, Giancarlo
AU - Lansdale, Kelsey N.
AU - Marchese, Melissa J.
AU - Martinez, Ari
AU - Moore, Caroline
AU - Pan, William K.
AU - Purizaca, Raúl Pérez
AU - Sánchez, Victor
AU - Silman, Miles
AU - Ury, Emily A.
AU - Vega, Claudia
AU - Watsa, Mrinalini
AU - Bernhardt, Emily S.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, The Author(s).
PY - 2022/12
Y1 - 2022/12
N2 - Mercury emissions from artisanal and small-scale gold mining throughout the Global South exceed coal combustion as the largest global source of mercury. We examined mercury deposition and storage in an area of the Peruvian Amazon heavily impacted by artisanal gold mining. Intact forests in the Peruvian Amazon near gold mining receive extremely high inputs of mercury and experience elevated total mercury and methylmercury in the atmosphere, canopy foliage, and soils. Here we show for the first time that an intact forest canopy near artisanal gold mining intercepts large amounts of particulate and gaseous mercury, at a rate proportional with total leaf area. We document substantial mercury accumulation in soils, biomass, and resident songbirds in some of the Amazon’s most protected and biodiverse areas, raising important questions about how mercury pollution may constrain modern and future conservation efforts in these tropical ecosystems.
AB - Mercury emissions from artisanal and small-scale gold mining throughout the Global South exceed coal combustion as the largest global source of mercury. We examined mercury deposition and storage in an area of the Peruvian Amazon heavily impacted by artisanal gold mining. Intact forests in the Peruvian Amazon near gold mining receive extremely high inputs of mercury and experience elevated total mercury and methylmercury in the atmosphere, canopy foliage, and soils. Here we show for the first time that an intact forest canopy near artisanal gold mining intercepts large amounts of particulate and gaseous mercury, at a rate proportional with total leaf area. We document substantial mercury accumulation in soils, biomass, and resident songbirds in some of the Amazon’s most protected and biodiverse areas, raising important questions about how mercury pollution may constrain modern and future conservation efforts in these tropical ecosystems.
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U2 - 10.1038/s41467-022-27997-3
DO - 10.1038/s41467-022-27997-3
M3 - Article
C2 - 35091543
AN - SCOPUS:85123827824
SN - 2041-1723
VL - 13
JO - Nature Communications
JF - Nature Communications
IS - 1
M1 - 559
ER -