2023 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Conference
March 5-7, 2023 • Cincinnati, OH
5/22/2018 | 12:00 PM - 12:15 PM | ECOLOGICAL FACTORS CONTROLLING INSECT-MEDIATED METHYLMERCURY FLUX FROM AQUATIC TO TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEMS | 320
ECOLOGICAL FACTORS CONTROLLING INSECT-MEDIATED METHYLMERCURY FLUX FROM AQUATIC TO TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEMS
The diets of terrestrial consumers can be subsidized by energy and nutrients transported from aquatic ecosystems to terrestrial food webs by emergent aquatic insects. However, the cross-system transport of materials by insects can have a “dark side” because emergent aquatic insects also transport toxic contaminants such as methyl mercury (MeHg) to terrestrial ecosystems (hereafter referred to as insect-mediated MeHg flux). Although ecological factors are known to influence insect emergence and the cross-system transport of energy and nutrients by insects, the ecological factors regulating insect-mediated MeHg flux have been little studied. In this presentation we overview our mesocosm and pond experiments examining ecological factors regulating the transport of MeHg out of aquatic ecosystems by emergent insects. We also present a conceptual model integrating the influence of MeHg contamination of ecosystems and ecological factors regulating emerging insect-mediated MeHg flux during seasons when insects are emerging. We propose that the potential for insect-mediated MeHg flux increases with Hg contamination of the ecosystem but that the realized insect-mediated MeHg flux is determined by ecological factors known to regulate aquatic insect community ecology.
- Lentic
- Ecotoxicology
- Predator-prey
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Presenters/Authors
Matthew Chumchal
(), Texas Christian University, m.m.chumchal@tcu.edu;
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Ray Drenner
(), Texas Christian University, r.drenner@tcu.edu;
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