The Effects of Forest Harvesting on Total and Methylmercury Concentrations in Surface Waters Depend on Harvest Practices and Physical Site Characteristics
Abstract
Forest harvesting can lead to mercury (Hg) mobilization from soils to aquatic habitats and promote the transformation of inorganic Hg to highly neurotoxic and bioaccumulative methyl-Hg (MeHg). Multiple past studies reveal broad variation of stream water MeHg and total Hg (THg) concentration responses to forest harvesting, which has confounded messaging to forest and resource managers. To advance beyond divergent and sometimes contradictory findings, we synthesized information for 23 previously studied catchments in North America and Fennoscandia and compiled a uniform set of soil, landscape, and harvesting properties to identify forest management, riparian, and hillslope factors that influence responses of stream water MeHg and THg concentrations. From this synthesis, we found catchments with high soil moisture and organic soil layers >100 cm to be at highest risk for disturbance-induced …
abstract: “Forest harvesting can lead to mercury (Hg) mobilization from soils to aquatic habitats and promote the transformation of inorganic Hg to highly neurotoxic and bioaccumulative methyl-Hg (MeHg). Multiple past studies reveal broad variation of stream water MeHg and total Hg (THg) concentration responses to forest harvesting, which has confounded messaging to forest and resource managers. To advance beyond divergent and sometimes contradictory findings, we synthesized information for 23 previously studied catchments in North America and Fennoscandia and compiled a uniform set of soil, landscape, and harvesting properties to identify forest management, riparian, and hillslope factors that influence responses of stream water MeHg and THg concentrations. From this synthesis, we found catchments with high soil moisture and organic soil layers >100 cm to be at highest risk for disturbance-induced …” authors:
- Karin Eklöf
- Heleen de Wit
- Chris S Eckley
- Collin A Eagles-Smith
- Susan L Eggert
- Robert W Mackereth
- Ulf Skyllberg
- Liisa Ukonmaanaho
- Matti Verta
- Craig Allan
- E_Emilson
- Karen A Kidd
- Carl PJ Mitchell
- John Munthe
- Tapani Sallantaus
- Joel Segersten
- Andrea G Bravo
- Randall K Kolka
- Colin PR McCarter
- Petri Porvari
- Eva Ring
- Stephen D Sebestyen
- Ulf Sikström
- Therese Sahlén Zetterberg featured: false projects: [] publication: ‘Environmental Science & Technology’ publication_short: '' publication_types:
- “2” date: ‘2025-07-22T00:00:00Z’ publishDate: ‘2026-01-02’ title: ‘The Effects of Forest Harvesting on Total and Methylmercury Concentrations in Surface Waters Depend on Harvest Practices and Physical Site Characteristics’ url_pdf: “https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acs.est.5c02787" url_source: “https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.est.5c02787"
Erik J.S. Emilson
Research Scientist, Watershed Ecology Team Lead, Associate Editor CJFR
I am interested in how forests support freshwater ecosystem services. My research combines microbial and molecular approaches to undertand how forest productivity and disturbances affect ecosystem functions in headwater streams and lakes.