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New Approaches to Understand Mercury in Trees: Radial and Longitudinal Patterns of Mercury in Tree Rings and Genetic Control of Mercury in Maple Sap

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Abstract

Mercury (Hg) in the environment has been receiving considerable attention in recent years, but little is known about Hg accumulation in trees. We analyzed Hg in tree rings from four tree species at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest in New Hampshire to determine whether Hg concentrations are more influenced by soil Hg concentrations, which have been stable or increasing due to the cumulative retention of historical atmospheric Hg deposition, or by atmospheric Hg deposition, which has declined in recent decades. Declining concentrations from the top to the bottom of the bole (p < 0.001) and from older to newer tree rings (p = 0.001) suggest that foliar uptake of Hg is more important than root uptake. Ten sugar maple clones planted in six blocks at the Heiberg Forest in New York State showed significant genetic control of sap Hg concentration (p = 0.02), which was not related to soil Hg concentration differences across blocks. Clones could differ in stomatal uptake, root uptake, or translocation of Hg. Better understanding of the source of Hg in wood is needed to forecast future changes in Hg cycling in forested ecosystems.

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Acknowledgments

Don Pafka rooted and planted the clonal sugar maple trees at the Heiberg Forest in the 1970s, and Ian Halm cut trees for us at the Hubbard Brook. Mario Montesdeoca and Mariah Taylor at the Syracuse University were key to the analysis of Hg. We thank Jim Cidziel and an anonymous reviewer for their helpful feedback on the manuscript.

Funding

Funding for this study was provided by a seed grant from SUNY-ESF in 2014 and by the US Forest Service through the Northeastern States Research Cooperative in 2015. This paper is a contribution to the Hubbard Brook Ecosystem Study. The Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest is operated by the US Forest Service and the Hubbard Brook Research Foundation, and it forms part of the NSF Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) site network.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sustainable Resources Management, State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, 1 Forestry Dr. 106 Marshall Hall, Syracuse, NY, 13210, USA

    Ruth D. Yanai

  2. Sierra Nevada Research Institute, University of California, Merced, Merced, CA, 95340, USA

    Yang Yang

  3. Department of Natural Resources, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA

    Adam D. Wild

  4. USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station, 271 Mast Road, Durham, NH, 08324, USA

    Kevin T. Smith

  5. Department of Civil and Engineering, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, 13244, USA

    Charles T. Driscoll

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  1. Ruth D. Yanai
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Yanai, R.D., Yang, Y., Wild, A.D. et al. New Approaches to Understand Mercury in Trees: Radial and Longitudinal Patterns of Mercury in Tree Rings and Genetic Control of Mercury in Maple Sap. Water Air Soil Pollut 231, 248 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-020-04601-2

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