Changes in zooplankton communities along a mercury contamination gradient in a coastal lagoon (Ria de Aveiro,Portugal) |
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| Institution: | 1. Gdańsk University, Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry & Ecotoxicology, 63 Wita Stwosza Str., 80-952 Gdańsk, Poland;2. Institute of Medicinal Plants, Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, 650200 Kunming, China;3. College of Resources and Environment, Yuxi Normal University, 653100 Yuxi, Yunnan, China;4. College of Agronomy and Biotechnology, Yunnan Agricultural University, 650201 Kunming, China;1. Department of Environmental Sciences, Jozef Stefan Institute, Jamova 39, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia;2. Marine Biology Station, National Institute of Biology, Fornace 41, 6330 Piran, Slovenia;3. Laboratorio de Análisis por Activación Neutrónica, Centro Atómico Bariloche, Av. Bustillo km 9.5, 8400 Bariloche, Argentina;4. Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, United States |
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| Abstract: | The main objective of this paper was to evaluate the impact of mercury on the zooplankton communities’ structure and functioning and their bioaccumulation patterns along a contamination gradient in a temperate coastal lagoon. Our results demonstrated that total abundance was not negatively affected by Hg contamination, since the most contaminated areas presented the highest values, being the copepod Acartia tonsa the dominant species, which means that it is a very well adapted and tolerant species to mercury. Nevertheless, negative effects were observed in terms of species diversity, since the most contaminated areas presented the lowest values of species richness, evenness and heterogeneity. Moreover, the spatial mercury gradient was reflected on the bioaccumulation patterns of the zooplankton communities. This reinforces the idea that zooplankton can be considered as an important vehicle of mercury transfer through the food pelagic web since it constitutes a primordial food resource for several commercial fish species. |
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| Keywords: | Mercury Contamination gradient Estuaries Mesozooplankton Bioaccumulation |
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