Mercury and the Everglades. A Synthesis and Model for Complex Ecosystem Restoration

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This book integrates 30 years of mercury research in the Florida Everglades to inform scientists and policy makers. The Everglades is an iconic ecosystem by virtue of its expanse; diversity of biota; and multiple international designations. Despite this, the Everglades has been subjected to multiple threats including: habitat loss, hydrologic alterations, invasive species and altered water quality.  Less well recognized as a threat to Everglades human use and wildlife populations is the toxic metal, mercury.   The first half of Volume II focuses on biogeochemistry and factors unique to the Everglades that make it extraordinarily susceptible to mercury methylation following its deposition: warm subtropical climate, shallow depth, high levels of dissolved organic matter, sulfate contamination, nutrient enrichment and sediment redox conditions (for review of atmospheric mercury deposition significance, see Vol. I). The second half of Volume II answers the “so what” question – why biomagnification of the methylmercury produced in the Everglades is a threat to the health of top predators including humans.  The results of the synthesis presented in Volume II suggest that the mercury problem in the Florida Everglades is one of the worst in the world due to its areal extent and the degree of risk to ecological receptors and humans.
This book integrates 30 years of mercury research in the Florida Everglades to inform scientists and policy makers. The Everglades is an iconic ecosystem by virtue of its expanse; diversity of biota; and multiple international designations. Despite this, the Everglades has been subjected to multiple threats including: habitat loss, hydrologic alterations, invasive species and altered water quality.  Less well recognized as a threat to Everglades human use and wildlife populations is the toxic metal, mercury.   The first half of Volume II focuses on biogeochemistry and factors unique to the Everglades that make it extraordinarily susceptible to mercury methylation following its deposition: warm subtropical climate, shallow depth, high levels of dissolved organic matter, sulfate contamination, nutrient enrichment and sediment redox conditions (for review of atmospheric mercury deposition significance, see Vol. I). The second half of Volume II answers the “so what” question – why biomagnification of the methylmercury produced in the Everglades is a threat to the health of top predators including humans.  The results of the synthesis presented in Volume II suggest that the mercury problem in the Florida Everglades is one of the worst in the world due to its areal extent and the degree of risk to ecological receptors and humans.
The Florida Everglades, an iconic ecosystem but with highly elevated foodchain mercury levels, is perhaps the world’s most studied aquatic ecosystem with respect to the mercury problem This book integrates over 30 years of research on mercury sources, biogeochemistry, bioaccumulation and toxicity, and remediation options, to inform scientists and policy makers The proposed solution to the Everglades mercury problem as proposed by the State of Florida and accepted by the U.S. government will not result in toxicologically acceptable mercury levels in fish for many decades, and will therefore not make fish safe for human or wildlife consumption in the near term. As a result, this book reexamines Everglades’ mercury science and evaluates the likely efficacy of other solutions

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Darren G. Rumbold

Themen in »Mercury and the Everglades. A Synthesis and Model for Complex Ecosystem Restoration«

Aquatic Mercury Biogeochemistry Everglades Hg transport Mercury Methylmercury Sulfate Sulfur marine and freshwater sciences ecotoxicology water quality and water pollution

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“The editors and authors of this set of books have done a real service to Everglades management, to environmental science, and particularly to those who deal with risks from Hg.” (Glenn Suter, Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management, Vol. 17 (3), 2021)

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