Trophic structure and mercury transfer in the subarctic fish community of Great Slave Lake, Northwest Territories, Canada ...

• Main Authors: Chételat, John, Rohonczy, Jillian, Cott, Peter A., Benwell, Amanda, Forbes, Mark R., Robinson, Stacey A., Rosabal, Maikel R., Amyot, Marc
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: Dryad 2019
• Subjects: Mercury; Great lake; Burbot; Catostomus catostomus; Great Slave Lake; Longnose sucker; Lota lota; Northwest Territories; Subarctic; Yellowknife; lota
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.59zw3r23g; https://datadryad.org/stash/dataset/doi:10.5061/dryad.59zw3r23g

In recent decades, mercury concentrations have increased in fish of Great Slave Lake (GSL), a subarctic great lake in northern Canada with important recreational, subsistence, and commercial fisheries. This study characterized habitat use and trophic position of common fish species in GSL near the City of Yellowknife (Northwest Territories, Canada), measured mercury concentrations in water and in taxa from lower trophic levels of the food web, and examined trophic and biological influences on mercury concentrations within and among fish species. Northern pike (Exos lucius) and lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeformis) fed predominantly nearshore, cisco (Coregonus artedi) and longnose sucker (Catostomus catostomus) fed predominantly offshore, and burbot (Lota lota) fed roughly equally in both habitats. Habitat-specific feeding did not influence mercury bioaccumulation in fish, in contrast with published studies of smaller lakes. Water concentrations of total mercury and methylmercury were low and showed little ... : Please refer to the manuscript for all methodological details or contact the corresponding author ([e-mail]) for more information. Rohonczy, J.; Cott, P. A.; Benwell, A.; Forbes, M. R.; Robinson, S. A.; Rosabal, M.; Amyot, M.; Chételat, J., Trophic structure and mercury transfer in the subarctic fish community of Great Slave Lake, Northwest Territories, Canada. Journal of Great Lakes Research 2020, 46, (2), 402-413. ...