The northeastern United States receives elevated mercury (Hg) deposition from United States and global emissions, making it critical to understand the fate of Hg in watersheds with a variety of aquatic habitats and land use types, such as the Finger Lakes region of New York State. Bats are valuable and important organisms to study chronic Hg exposure, because they are at risk of sublethal effects from elevated Hg exposure. The objectives of this study were to: (1) determine total Hg (THg) and methylmercury (MeHg) concentrations in big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus) of the Finger Lakes region; (2) assess whether morphometric, temporal, or spatial factors predict bat Hg concentrations; and (3) investigate the role of trophic position and diet represented by stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen in explaining variations in bat Hg concentrations. We found comparable THg and MeHg concentrations to previous studies (THg range 1–45 ppm, MeHg range 0.5–38 ppm) in big brown bat fur collected throughout the Finger Lakes region. On average, MeHg made up 81% of THg in bat fur. Fifteen percent of our samples showed higher THg than a proposed toxicity threshold of 10 ppm. Together, dominant land cover and % wetland cover explained bat THg in the Finger Lakes. Trophic position (i.e., δ¹⁵N) was strongest in predicting bat THg in forests but was a weaker predictor of Hg bioaccumulation in bats from agricultural and urban areas. The range of Hg concentrations found in this study warrants further examination into the potential toxicological impacts of Hg to wildlife and the role of land use in Hg exposure to terrestrial organisms of the Finger Lakes.

美国东北部收到来自美国的高水平汞（Hg）沉积物和全球排放量，因此了解具有各种水生栖息地和土地使用类型的流域（例如纽约州的手指湖地区）中汞的命运至关重要。蝙蝠是研究慢性Hg暴露的有价值的重要生物，因为它们有因Hg暴露增加而引起亚致死作用的危险。这项研究的目的是：（1）确定大棕蝙蝠（Eptesicus fuscus）中的总Hg（THg）和甲基汞（MeHg）浓度）的手指湖地区；（2）评估形态，时间或空间因素是否可预测蝙蝠汞的浓度；（3）研究以碳和氮的稳定同位素表示的营养位置和饮食在解释蝙蝠汞浓度变化中的作用。我们发现在整个手指湖地区收集的大棕蝙蝠毛皮中，THg和MeHg的浓度与以前的研究相当（THg范围为1–45 ppm，MeHg范围为0.5–38 ppm）。在蝙蝠毛皮中，甲基汞的平均含量为四氢呋喃的81％。我们的样本中有15％的THg高于建议的10 ppm的毒性阈值。合起来，优势的土地覆盖率和湿地覆盖率百分比解释了Finger Lakes中的蝙蝠THg。营养位置（即，Δ ¹⁵N）对森林中蝙蝠THg的预测最强，但对农业和城市地区蝙蝠中Hg生物积累的预测较弱。这项研究中发现的汞浓度范围需要进一步研究汞对野生生物的潜在毒理学影响以及土地使用在手指湖陆生生物汞接触中的作用。