title: Analyzing trophic transfer of heavy metals for food webs in the newly-formed wetlands of the Yellow River Delta, China.
abstract: Nine heavy metals sampled from water, sediments, and aquatic organisms in the newly-formed wetlands of the Yellow River Delta (YRD) of China were analyzed to evaluate their concentrations and trophic transfer in food webs. The stable carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) isotopes were used to investigate trophic interactions. Results show that most of heavy metals detected in water and sediments are lower than that in Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta. The longest food web is approximately 4 with the highest trophic level of birds. The difference of heavy metal concentrations between endangered Saunders's Gull and other three kinds of protected birds is not obvious. Cd, Zn, and Hg were identified to have an increase with the trophic level (TL), while As, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni and Pb show an opposite trend, however, the biomagnification of the selected nine heavy metals in the food webs is not significant.
authors.affiliation: State Key Joint Laboratory of Environmental Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China. cuibs@bnu.edu.cn
authors.forename: Baoshan
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.forename: Qijun
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Kejiang
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Xinhui
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Honggang
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001717:Birds / Q000378:metabolism; D002681:China; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005399:Fishes / Q000378:metabolism; D020387:Food Chain; D007448:Invertebrates / Q000378:metabolism; D019216:Metals, Heavy / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism; D045483:Rivers; D053833:Wetlands
chemical_list: D019216:Metals, Heavy