Trapped river otters ( Lontra canadensis ) from central Saskatchewan differ in total and organic mercury concentrations by sex and geographic location
Mercury (Hg) in wildlife remains of great concern, especially for apex piscivores. Despite this, exposure information from many species in many areas is lacking, so that management decisions are hampered. Here we examine Hg concentrations in fur, liver, and kidney tissues from river otters ( Lontra...
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crcansciencepubl:10.1139/facets-2017-0082 2023-12-17T10:28:52+01:00 Trapped river otters ( Lontra canadensis ) from central Saskatchewan differ in total and organic mercury concentrations by sex and geographic location Wilkie, Steven C. Espie, Richard H.M. Basu, Niladri Liber, Karsten Hall, Britt D. O’Driscoll, Nelson 2018 http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/facets-2017-0082 http://www.facetsjournal.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/facets-2017-0082 en eng Canadian Science Publishing FACETS volume 3, issue 1, page 139-154 ISSN 2371-1671 Multidisciplinary journal-article 2018 crcansciencepubl https://doi.org/10.1139/facets-2017-0082 2023-11-19T13:38:42Z Mercury (Hg) in wildlife remains of great concern, especially for apex piscivores. Despite this, exposure information from many species in many areas is lacking, so that management decisions are hampered. Here we examine Hg concentrations in fur, liver, and kidney tissues from river otters ( Lontra canadensis (Schreber, 1777)) ( n = 203) to quantify existing Hg concentrations over a broad geographic area in Saskatchewan. Mean fur total Hg (THg) (9.68 ± 7.52 mg/kg fresh weight (f.w.)) was significantly correlated with THg and organic Hg (OHg) in liver and kidney tissue, showcasing the potential for using fur as a noninvasive method of monitoring Hg in top-level mammals. Livers of males had higher mean OHg concentrations than livers of females (males: 2.71 mg/kg d.w., females: 1.87 mg/kg d.w.), but not significantly so. No sex-related differences were observed in kidney OHg concentrations. THg concentrations in otter fur collected in the Boreal Shield ecozone (Churchill River Upland) were significantly higher (mean = 16.1 mg/kg f.w.) than in otter fur collected from the Boreal Plain ecozone (mean = 8.59 mg/kg f.w.). Fur from otters ( n = 20; trapping block N66) trapped near a decommissioned smelter contained the highest concentrations of THg in the study (mean = 18.4 mg/kg f.w.). Article in Journal/Newspaper Churchill River Lontra Canadian Science Publishing (via Crossref) FACETS 3 1 139 154 |
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Canadian Science Publishing (via Crossref) |
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crcansciencepubl |
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English |
topic |
Multidisciplinary |
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Multidisciplinary Wilkie, Steven C. Espie, Richard H.M. Basu, Niladri Liber, Karsten Hall, Britt D. Trapped river otters ( Lontra canadensis ) from central Saskatchewan differ in total and organic mercury concentrations by sex and geographic location |
topic_facet |
Multidisciplinary |
description |
Mercury (Hg) in wildlife remains of great concern, especially for apex piscivores. Despite this, exposure information from many species in many areas is lacking, so that management decisions are hampered. Here we examine Hg concentrations in fur, liver, and kidney tissues from river otters ( Lontra canadensis (Schreber, 1777)) ( n = 203) to quantify existing Hg concentrations over a broad geographic area in Saskatchewan. Mean fur total Hg (THg) (9.68 ± 7.52 mg/kg fresh weight (f.w.)) was significantly correlated with THg and organic Hg (OHg) in liver and kidney tissue, showcasing the potential for using fur as a noninvasive method of monitoring Hg in top-level mammals. Livers of males had higher mean OHg concentrations than livers of females (males: 2.71 mg/kg d.w., females: 1.87 mg/kg d.w.), but not significantly so. No sex-related differences were observed in kidney OHg concentrations. THg concentrations in otter fur collected in the Boreal Shield ecozone (Churchill River Upland) were significantly higher (mean = 16.1 mg/kg f.w.) than in otter fur collected from the Boreal Plain ecozone (mean = 8.59 mg/kg f.w.). Fur from otters ( n = 20; trapping block N66) trapped near a decommissioned smelter contained the highest concentrations of THg in the study (mean = 18.4 mg/kg f.w.). |
author2 |
O’Driscoll, Nelson |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Wilkie, Steven C. Espie, Richard H.M. Basu, Niladri Liber, Karsten Hall, Britt D. |
author_facet |
Wilkie, Steven C. Espie, Richard H.M. Basu, Niladri Liber, Karsten Hall, Britt D. |
author_sort |
Wilkie, Steven C. |
title |
Trapped river otters ( Lontra canadensis ) from central Saskatchewan differ in total and organic mercury concentrations by sex and geographic location |
title_short |
Trapped river otters ( Lontra canadensis ) from central Saskatchewan differ in total and organic mercury concentrations by sex and geographic location |
title_full |
Trapped river otters ( Lontra canadensis ) from central Saskatchewan differ in total and organic mercury concentrations by sex and geographic location |
title_fullStr |
Trapped river otters ( Lontra canadensis ) from central Saskatchewan differ in total and organic mercury concentrations by sex and geographic location |
title_full_unstemmed |
Trapped river otters ( Lontra canadensis ) from central Saskatchewan differ in total and organic mercury concentrations by sex and geographic location |
title_sort |
trapped river otters ( lontra canadensis ) from central saskatchewan differ in total and organic mercury concentrations by sex and geographic location |
publisher |
Canadian Science Publishing |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/facets-2017-0082 http://www.facetsjournal.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/facets-2017-0082 |
genre |
Churchill River Lontra |
genre_facet |
Churchill River Lontra |
op_source |
FACETS volume 3, issue 1, page 139-154 ISSN 2371-1671 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1139/facets-2017-0082 |
container_title |
FACETS |
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3 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
139 |
op_container_end_page |
154 |
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1785581069088587776 |