A National-Scale Assessment of Mercury Bioaccumulation in United States National Parks Using Dragonfly Larvae As Biosentinels through a Citizen-Science Framework
Collin A. Eagles‐Smith, James J. Willacker, Sarah J. Nelson, Colleen Flanagan Pritz, David P. Krabbenhoft, Celia Y. Chen, Joshua T. Ackerman, Evan H. Campbell Grant, David S. Pilliod
Abstract
> 0.80) with each other, enabling adjustment to a consistent family to facilitate spatial comparisons among sampling units. Dragonfly THg concentrations were positively correlated with THg concentrations in both fish and amphibians from the same locations, indicating that dragonfly larvae are effective indicators of Hg bioavailability in aquatic food webs. We used these relationships to develop an integrated impairment index of Hg risk to aquatic ecosytems and found that 12% of site-years exceeded high or severe benchmarks of fish, wildlife, or human health risk. Collectively, this continental-scale study demonstrates the utility of dragonfly larvae for estimating the potential mercury risk to fish and wildlife in aquatic ecosystems and provides a framework for engaging citizen science as a component of landscape Hg monitoring programs.