Abstract

Mercury (Hg) endangers human and wildlife health globally, primarily due to its release from artisanal small-scale gold mining (ASGM). During gold extraction, Hg is emitted into the environment and converted to highly toxic methylmercury by microorganisms. In Madre de Dios (MDD), Peru, ASGM dominates the economy and has transformed rainforests into expansive deforested areas punctuated by abandoned mining ponds. The aim of this study was to evaluate the use of bats as bioindicators for mercury pollution intensity in tropical terrestrial ecosystems impacted by ASGM. We collected 290 bat fur samples from three post-ASGM sites and one control site in Madre de Dios. Our results showed a wide Hg distribution in bats (0.001 to 117.71 mg/kg) strongly influenced by feeding habits. Insectivorous and piscivorous bats from ASGM sites presented elevated levels of Hg surpassing the mercury small mammal threshold for small mammals (10 mg/kg). We observed the highest reported fur mercury concentrations for insectivorous Neotropical bats reported to date (Rhynchonycteris naso, 117 mg/kg). Our findings further confirm that Hg emissions from ASGM are entering local food webs and exposing wildlife species at several trophic levels to higher levels of Hg than in areas not impacted by mining. We also found that three bat genera consistently showed increased Hg levels in ASGM sites relative to controls indicating potential usefulness as bioindicators of mercury loading in terrestrial ecosystems impacted by artisanal and small-scale gold mining.

中文翻译：

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秘鲁马德雷德迪奥斯蝙蝠体内的汞生物累积：汞生物指示剂对受手工和小规模金矿开采影响的热带生态系统的影响

 抽象的

汞 (Hg) 危害全球人类和野生动物的健康，主要是由于手工小规模采金 (ASGM) 中释放的汞。在金提取过程中，汞被排放到环境中，并被微生物转化为剧毒的甲基汞。在秘鲁马德雷德迪奥斯 (MDD)，手工和小规模采金在经济中占据主导地位，并将雨林变成了大面积的森林砍伐区，其中点缀着废弃的矿池。本研究的目的是评估使用蝙蝠作为受手工和小规模采金影响的热带陆地生态系统中汞污染强度的生物指示剂。我们从三个 ASGM 后地点和马德雷德迪奥斯的一个对照地点收集了 290 个蝙蝠毛皮样本。我们的结果显示，蝙蝠体内的汞分布很广（0.001 至 117.71 毫克/千克），并受到饮食习惯的强烈影响。来自 ASGM 地点的食虫和食鱼蝙蝠的汞含量升高，超过了小型哺乳动物的汞阈值（10 毫克/千克）。我们观察到迄今为止报道的食虫新热带蝙蝠毛皮汞浓度最高（Rhynchonycteris naso，117 毫克/千克）。我们的研究结果进一步证实，手工和小规模采金产生的汞排放正在进入当地食物网，并使多个营养级别的野生动物物种暴露于比未受采矿影响的地区更高水平的汞中。我们还发现，与对照相比，三个蝙蝠属的手工和小规模采金地点的汞含量始终有所增加，这表明其作为受手工和小规模金矿开采影响的陆地生态系统汞负荷生物指示剂的潜在用途。