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Biogeochemistry

Arctic plants take up mercury vapour

Nature volume 547, pages 167–168 (2017)Cite this article

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Trace elements are enriched in plants by natural processes, human activities or both. An analysis of mercury in Arctic tundra vegetation offers fresh insight into the uptake of trace metals from the atmosphere by plants. See Letter p.201

Mercury, a potentially toxic trace metal, accumulates in the Arctic as a result of human activities — an issue that has broad ecological and societal implications, particularly for indigenous communities that rely on local food sources. But the relative importance of natural versus industrial sources of mercury accumulation has been a subject of debate. On page 201, Obrist et al.1 provide unambiguous evidence that elevated mercury concentrations in Arctic plants reflect the uptake of gaseous elemental mercury (GEM) from the atmosphere. This insight is crucial to a better understanding of the mercury cycle, and suggests that the Arctic tundra is a major sink for mercury.

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Figure 1: Mercury deposition over the Arctic.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta, Edmonton, T6G 2H1, Canada

    William Shotyk

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  1. William Shotyk
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Correspondence to William Shotyk.

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Shotyk, W. Arctic plants take up mercury vapour. Nature 547, 167–168 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/547167a

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