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R/CBT-27
Factors controlling the food chain accumulation and transfer of inorganic and methylmercury in Chesapeake Bay organisms.
Principal Investigator:
Robert P. MasonStart/End Year:
1995 - 1997Institution:
Chesapeake Biological Laboratory, University of Maryland Center for Environmental ScienceCo-Principal Investigator:
David A. Wright, Chesapeake Biological Laboratory, University of Maryland Center for Environmental ScienceTopic(s):
- Ecosystems and Restoration
Description:
To investigate the bioconcentration of Hg and methyl Hg in organisms representative of the Chesapeake Bay from both pelagic and benthic food chains. To ascertain relative assimilation efficiencies of inorganic and methyl Hg by algae (pelagic/benthic diatoms or dinoflagellates) and by zooplankton and zoobenthos. To elucidate water column variables and sediment chemistry controlling uptake by microorganisms and factors controlling assimilation by zooplankton/zoobenthos. To assess transfer of Hg and methyl Hg between primary consumers and fish.
Funding Start Year
1995
Funding End Year
1997
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Featured Fellow
Nina Santos
Nina Santos is a Ph.D. student at the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. For her dissertation, she is focused on small shrimp-like crustaceans called mysids – an understudied yet important part of many estuarine and coastal food webs.
Featured Research Project
Developing a habitat model for mysids, an important link in Chesapeake Bay food webs
Mysids are important mesozooplankton prey for many species of fish in Chesapeake Bay and are an important link in transferring energy from lower to upper trophic levels. Mysids also serve as biological vectors for benthic-pelagic coupling due to their diel vertical migration and omnivorous prey-switching behavior, which makes mysids important regulators of food web architecture. Despite their central role in coastal food webs, surprisingly little is known about mysid ecology and dynamics in Chesapeake Bay.
