Grant: Canada Research Chairs

Contaminants such as mercury are known to accumulate in some remote ecosystems leading to high concentrations in organisms and resulting in health effects. However, the factors that make an ecosystem more or less sensitive to contaminant accumulation and how these factors change with climate are largely unknown. This program will quantify reactions that control mercury retention in ecosystems and the effects of radiation, temperature and moisture on these processes. As such, this research will increase our ability to predict which ecosystems will be sensitive to mercury accumulation with climate change, and help to identify areas at risk for elevated mercury in the food web.