Mercury accumulation in bats near hydroelectric reservoirs in Peninsular Malaysia
In large man-made reservoirs such as those resulting from hydroelectric dam construction, bacteria transform the relatively harmless inorganic mercury naturally present in soil and the submerged plant matter into toxic methylmercury. Methylmercury then enters food webs and can accumulate in organism...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Springer US
2016
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/106151 |
| _version_ | 1826204253450928128 |
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| author | Syaripuddin, Khairunnisa Sing, Kong-Wah Halim, Muhammad-Rasul A Nursyereen, Muhammad-Nasir Wilson, John-James Halim, Muhammad-Rasul Abdullah Kumar, Anjali |
| author2 | MIT-SUTD Collaboration Office |
| author_facet | MIT-SUTD Collaboration Office Syaripuddin, Khairunnisa Sing, Kong-Wah Halim, Muhammad-Rasul A Nursyereen, Muhammad-Nasir Wilson, John-James Halim, Muhammad-Rasul Abdullah Kumar, Anjali |
| author_sort | Syaripuddin, Khairunnisa |
| collection | MIT |
| description | In large man-made reservoirs such as those resulting from hydroelectric dam construction, bacteria transform the relatively harmless inorganic mercury naturally present in soil and the submerged plant matter into toxic methylmercury. Methylmercury then enters food webs and can accumulate in organisms at higher trophic levels. Bats feeding on insects emerging from aquatic systems can show accumulation of mercury consumed through their insect prey. In this study, we investigated whether the concentration of mercury in the fur of insectivorous bat species was significantly higher than that in the fur of frugivorous bat species, sampled near hydroelectric reservoirs in Peninsular Malaysia. Bats were sampled at Temenggor Lake and Kenyir Lake and fur samples from the most abundant genera of the two feeding guilds—insectivorous (Hipposideros and Rhinolophus) and frugivorous (Cynopterus and Megaerops) were collected for mercury analysis. We found significantly higher concentrations of total mercury in the fur of insectivorous bats. Mercury concentrations also differed significantly between insectivorous bats sampled at the two sites, with bats from Kenyir Lake, the younger reservoir, showing higher mercury concentrations, and between the insectivorous genera, with Hipposideros bats showing higher mercury concentrations. Ten bats (H. cf. larvatus) sampled at Kenyir Lake had mercury concentrations approaching or exceeding 10 mg/kg, which is the threshold at which detrimental effects occur in humans, bats and mice. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T12:51:22Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/106151 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T12:51:22Z |
| publishDate | 2016 |
| publisher | Springer US |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1061512022-09-28T10:30:49Z Mercury accumulation in bats near hydroelectric reservoirs in Peninsular Malaysia Syaripuddin, Khairunnisa Sing, Kong-Wah Halim, Muhammad-Rasul A Nursyereen, Muhammad-Nasir Wilson, John-James Halim, Muhammad-Rasul Abdullah Kumar, Anjali MIT-SUTD Collaboration Office Kumar, Anjali In large man-made reservoirs such as those resulting from hydroelectric dam construction, bacteria transform the relatively harmless inorganic mercury naturally present in soil and the submerged plant matter into toxic methylmercury. Methylmercury then enters food webs and can accumulate in organisms at higher trophic levels. Bats feeding on insects emerging from aquatic systems can show accumulation of mercury consumed through their insect prey. In this study, we investigated whether the concentration of mercury in the fur of insectivorous bat species was significantly higher than that in the fur of frugivorous bat species, sampled near hydroelectric reservoirs in Peninsular Malaysia. Bats were sampled at Temenggor Lake and Kenyir Lake and fur samples from the most abundant genera of the two feeding guilds—insectivorous (Hipposideros and Rhinolophus) and frugivorous (Cynopterus and Megaerops) were collected for mercury analysis. We found significantly higher concentrations of total mercury in the fur of insectivorous bats. Mercury concentrations also differed significantly between insectivorous bats sampled at the two sites, with bats from Kenyir Lake, the younger reservoir, showing higher mercury concentrations, and between the insectivorous genera, with Hipposideros bats showing higher mercury concentrations. Ten bats (H. cf. larvatus) sampled at Kenyir Lake had mercury concentrations approaching or exceeding 10 mg/kg, which is the threshold at which detrimental effects occur in humans, bats and mice. 2016-12-27T20:24:32Z 2016-12-27T20:24:32Z 2014-05 2014-05 2016-08-18T15:43:52Z Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 0963-9292 1573-3017 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/106151 Syaripuddin, Khairunnisa et al. “Mercury Accumulation in Bats near Hydroelectric Reservoirs in Peninsular Malaysia.” Ecotoxicology 23.7 (2014): 1164–1171. en http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10646-014-1258-y Ecotoxicology Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. Springer Science+Business Media New York application/pdf Springer US Springer US |
| spellingShingle | Syaripuddin, Khairunnisa Sing, Kong-Wah Halim, Muhammad-Rasul A Nursyereen, Muhammad-Nasir Wilson, John-James Halim, Muhammad-Rasul Abdullah Kumar, Anjali Mercury accumulation in bats near hydroelectric reservoirs in Peninsular Malaysia |
| title | Mercury accumulation in bats near hydroelectric reservoirs in Peninsular Malaysia |
| title_full | Mercury accumulation in bats near hydroelectric reservoirs in Peninsular Malaysia |
| title_fullStr | Mercury accumulation in bats near hydroelectric reservoirs in Peninsular Malaysia |
| title_full_unstemmed | Mercury accumulation in bats near hydroelectric reservoirs in Peninsular Malaysia |
| title_short | Mercury accumulation in bats near hydroelectric reservoirs in Peninsular Malaysia |
| title_sort | mercury accumulation in bats near hydroelectric reservoirs in peninsular malaysia |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/106151 |
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