Scholarlink

<p>Mercury (Hg) contamination from artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) is widespread in the Amazon, yet its dynamics in terrestrial food webs remain poorly understood. Here, we quantified total mercury (THg) concentrations in 492 insects spanning nine taxa across three sites in the Peruvian Amazon representing contrasting mining influence. Taxa were selected to capture a gradient of resource use from plant-based to animal-derived organic matter. Using linear mixed-effects models, we evaluated the relative roles of trophic structure, spatial variation, environmental exposure, and biological traits in shaping THg accumulation. Trophic structure emerged as the dominant driver, with models incorporating feeding guilds explaining the majority of variation (R²ₘ ≈ 0.82) and outperforming all alternatives (ΔAIC &gt; 60). THg concentrations increased monotonically along the trophic gradient, with an approximately 39-fold difference between herbivorous and necrophagous taxa. Spatial variation across sites reflected underlying contamination, with THg increasing ~ 7-fold from the least to most impacted site, but explained substantially less variation than trophic structure. Species-specific responses further modulated accumulation, partly associated with body weight. Environmental variables showed consistent but comparatively weak effects. To our knowledge, this study provides the first evidence from the Amazon Basin integrating Hg contamination in terrestrial insects within a trophic gradient framework.</p>

错误：搜索内容不能为空，请输入英文关键词
错误：关键词超出字数限制，请精简
高级检索

Mercury accumulation in tropical insects is structured by trophic gradients and contaminant risk landscapes

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

    开放获取

  • 发表日期：

    2026年8月5日

查看全文
  • Elena Chaboteaux,
  • Jessica Ortiz-Pacheco,
  • Cristian Steven Sevillano-Ríos,
  • Adrian Forsyth

摘要

Mercury (Hg) contamination from artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) is widespread in the Amazon, yet its dynamics in terrestrial food webs remain poorly understood. Here, we quantified total mercury (THg) concentrations in 492 insects spanning nine taxa across three sites in the Peruvian Amazon representing contrasting mining influence. Taxa were selected to capture a gradient of resource use from plant-based to animal-derived organic matter. Using linear mixed-effects models, we evaluated the relative roles of trophic structure, spatial variation, environmental exposure, and biological traits in shaping THg accumulation. Trophic structure emerged as the dominant driver, with models incorporating feeding guilds explaining the majority of variation (R²ₘ ≈ 0.82) and outperforming all alternatives (ΔAIC > 60). THg concentrations increased monotonically along the trophic gradient, with an approximately 39-fold difference between herbivorous and necrophagous taxa. Spatial variation across sites reflected underlying contamination, with THg increasing ~ 7-fold from the least to most impacted site, but explained substantially less variation than trophic structure. Species-specific responses further modulated accumulation, partly associated with body weight. Environmental variables showed consistent but comparatively weak effects. To our knowledge, this study provides the first evidence from the Amazon Basin integrating Hg contamination in terrestrial insects within a trophic gradient framework.