title: Managing Swedish forestry's impact on mercury in fish: Defining the impact and mitigation measures.
abstract: Inputs of anthropogenic mercury (Hg) to the environment have led to accumulation of Hg in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, contributing to fish Hg concentrations well above the European Union standards in large parts of Fennoscandia. Forestry operations have been reported to increase the concentrations and loads of Hg to surface waters by mobilizing Hg from the soil. This summary of available forestry effect studies reveals considerable variation in treatment effects on total Hg (THg) and methylmercury (MeHg) at different sites, varying from no effect up to manifold concentration increases, especially for the bioavailable MeHg fraction. Since Hg biomagnification depends on trophic structures, forestry impacts on nutrient flows will also influence the Hg in fish. From this, we conclude that recommendations for best management practices in Swedish forestry operations are appropriate from the perspective of mercury contamination. However, the complexity of defining effective policies needs to be recognized.
authors.affiliation: Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Box 7050, 75007, Uppsala, Sweden. karin.eklof@slu.se.
authors.forename: Karin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Eklöf
authors.affiliation: Environmental Sociology Section, Örebro University, 701 82, Örebro, Sweden. rolf.lidskog@oru.se.
authors.forename: Rolf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lidskog
authors.affiliation: Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Box 7050, 75007, Uppsala, Sweden. kevin.bishop@geo.uu.se.|Department of Earth Science, Uppsala University, 75236, Uppsala, Sweden. kevin.bishop@geo.uu.se.
authors.forename: Kevin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bishop
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005399:Fishes / Q000378:metabolism*; D016468:Forestry / Q000379:methods*; D005618:Fresh Water / Q000737:chemistry; D008628:Mercury / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism*; D013548:Sweden; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism*; D060753:Water Quality
chemical_list: D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D008628:Mercury
keywords: Bioaccumulation; Boreal forest; Forestry effects; Methylation; Methylmercury; Risk governance