Mercury (Hg) concentrations in freshwater fish across the state of New York frequently exceed guidelines considered harmful to humans and wildlife, but statewide distribution and temporal changes are not well known for the state's streams and rivers. We analyzed existing data to describe recent spatial patterns, identify key environmental drivers, and assess temporal changes. Size classes within sportfishes and prey fishes formed 'functional taxa' (FT), and standardized scores were generated from 2007-2016 data for 218 sites. Muscle Hg in ≥1 sportfish FT exceeded human-health guidelines of 50 ng/g (sensitive populations) and 300 ng/g (general population, GP) at 93 and 56% of sites, respectively, but exceeded 1000 ng/g (a state threshold) at only 10% of sites. Whole-body Hg in ≥1 prey fish FT exceeded wildlife thresholds of 40 ng/g and 100 ng/g at 91 and 51% of sites, respectively. Environmental drivers of recent spatial patterns include extent of forest cover and storage, the latter an indicator of wetlands. Standardized Hg scores increased with increasing atmospheric Hg deposition and storage across rural 'upland' regions of New York. However, scores were not related to atmospheric deposition in more-developed 'lowland' regions due to the limited methylation potential of urban landscapes. Comparisons of 2010-2015 sportfish Hg concentrations with those of 1998 and 2000-2005 showed inconsistent temporal changes both among and within eight sites examined. Some recent stream and river fish Hg spatial patterns differed from those of lake-based studies, highlighting the importance of New York's flowing waters to future Hg monitoring and risk assessment.

中文翻译：

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纽约州溪流和河流中鱼中的汞：空间格局，时间变化和环境驱动因素。

纽约州整个淡水鱼中的汞（Hg）浓度经常超过被认为对人类和野生生物有害的准则，但是该州的溪流和河流的全州分布和时间变化并不为人所知。我们分析了现有数据以描述最近的空间格局，识别关键的环境动因并评估时间变化。运动鱼类和猎物鱼类的大小分类形成了“功能类群”（FT），并且从2007-2016年的数据中为218个地点生成了标准化分数。≥1种运动鱼类FT中的肌肉汞含量分别超过93％和56％的人体健康指标50 ng / g（敏感人群）和300 ng / g（一般人群，GP），但超过1000 ng / g（a状态阈值）仅占网站的10％。≥1种捕食性鱼类中的全身汞含量分别超过91％和51％的野生动植物阈值40 ng / g和100 ng / g。最近空间格局的环境驱动因素包括森林覆盖和储存的范围，后者是湿地的指标。随着纽约农村“高地”地区大气中汞的沉积和存储量的增加，标准化的汞分数也随之增加。但是，由于城市景观的甲基化潜力有限，因此分数与较发达的“低地”地区的大气沉积无关。将2010-2015年河豚的汞含量与1998年和2000-2005年的汞含量进行比较，结果表明，在所检查的八个地点之间和之内的时间变化都不一致。最近一些河流和河流鱼类的汞空间格局与基于湖泊的研究有所不同，