Abstract

Mercury (Hg) levels are alarmingly high in fish from lakes across Fennoscandia and northern North America. The few published studies on the ways in which silviculture practices influence this problem indicate that forest operations increase Hg in downstream aquatic ecosystems. From these studies, we estimate that between one-tenth and one-quarter of the Hg in the fish of high-latitude, managed forest landscapes can be attributed to harvesting. Forestry, however, did not create the elevated Hg levels in the soils, and waterborne Hg/MeHg concentrations downstream from harvested areas are similar to those from wetlands. Given the current understanding of the way in which silviculture impacts Hg cycling, most of the recommendations for good forest practice in Sweden appear to be appropriate for high-latitude regions, e.g., leaving riparian buffer zones, as well as reducing disturbance at stream crossings and in moist areas. The recommendation to restore wetlands and reduce drainage, however, will likely increase Hg/MeHg loadings to aquatic ecosystems.

Published in

AMBIO: A Journal of the Human Environment
2009, Volume: 38, number: 7, pages: 373-380

SLU Authors

• Bishop, Kevin

  • Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Bringmark, Lage

  • Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Johansson, Kjell

  • Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Nilsson, Mats

  • Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Skyllberg, Ulf

  • Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Sörensen, Rasmus

  • Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Åkerblom, Staffan

  • Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

Sustainable Development Goals

SDG6 Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
SDG15 Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss


UKÄ Subject classification

Environmental Sciences related to Agriculture and Land-use


Publication identifier

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1579/0044-7447-38.7.373

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/27801