TY - JOUR
T1 - Using foliar and forest floor mercury concentrations to assess spatial patterns of mercury deposition
AU - Blackwell, Bradley D.
AU - Driscoll, Charles T.
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority and a Syracuse University fellowship to BB. Special thanks to Brenden McNeil at West Virginia University and Shawn Serbin at Wisconsin-Madison for providing and leading field crews for sample collection, and thanks to Ed Mason, Amy Sauer, and Joe Denkenberger for providing field assistance.
PY - 2015/7/1
Y1 - 2015/7/1
N2 - We evaluated spatial patterns of mercury (Hg) deposition through analysis of foliage and forest floor samples from 45 sites across Adirondack Park, NY. Species-specific differences in foliar Hg were evident with the lowest concentrations found in first-year conifer needles and highest concentrations found in black cherry (Prunus serotina). For foliage and forest floor samples, latitude and longitude were negatively correlated with Hg concentrations, likely because of proximity to emission sources, while elevation was positively correlated with Hg concentrations. Elemental analysis showed moderately strong, positive correlations between Hg and nitrogen concentrations. The spatial pattern of Hg deposition across the Adirondacks is similar to patterns of other contaminants that originate largely from combustion sources such as nitrogen and sulfur. The results of this study suggest foliage can be used to assess spatial patterns of Hg deposition in small regions or areas of varied topography where current Hg deposition models are too coarse to predict deposition accurately.
AB - We evaluated spatial patterns of mercury (Hg) deposition through analysis of foliage and forest floor samples from 45 sites across Adirondack Park, NY. Species-specific differences in foliar Hg were evident with the lowest concentrations found in first-year conifer needles and highest concentrations found in black cherry (Prunus serotina). For foliage and forest floor samples, latitude and longitude were negatively correlated with Hg concentrations, likely because of proximity to emission sources, while elevation was positively correlated with Hg concentrations. Elemental analysis showed moderately strong, positive correlations between Hg and nitrogen concentrations. The spatial pattern of Hg deposition across the Adirondacks is similar to patterns of other contaminants that originate largely from combustion sources such as nitrogen and sulfur. The results of this study suggest foliage can be used to assess spatial patterns of Hg deposition in small regions or areas of varied topography where current Hg deposition models are too coarse to predict deposition accurately.
KW - Adirondack
KW - Biogeochemistry
KW - Deposition
KW - Mercury
KW - Spatial
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84925856192&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84925856192&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.envpol.2015.02.036
DO - 10.1016/j.envpol.2015.02.036
M3 - Article
C2 - 25818092
AN - SCOPUS:84925856192
SN - 0269-7491
VL - 202
SP - 126
EP - 134
JO - Environmental Pollution
JF - Environmental Pollution
ER -