The grant could provide up to $13,500,000.
The USGS is offering a funding opportunity to a CESU partner research addressing questions to developing a revised framework for predicting mercury risk to managed freshwater ecosystems, accounting for both the biogeochemistry and microbiology and co-occurring stressors. An emphasis of this research is placed on (1) data synthesis and interpretation on arid-land reservoirs and (2) field measurements and data synthesis and interpretation on subtropical wetlands and mine-impacted lakes. In these three freshwater environments, mercury biomagnification in aquatic food webs is prevalent and water quality remains one of the biggest issues facing management and/or restoration efforts regarding mercury. A significant challenge to both scientists and resource managers is identifying how internal drivers (e.g., water management, co-occurring stressors) and external drivers (e.g., climate) influence the biogeochemical processes that result in the formation of methylmercury, a critical environmental transformation that precedes the exposure of organisms to mercury.