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Contaminación de Peces por Mercurio y sus Implicaciones para Otras Especies de Vida Silvestre de la Cuenca Tapajós, del Amazonas Brasileño
Author(s) -
Uryu Yumiko,
Malm Olaf,
Thornton Iain,
Payne Ian,
Cleary David
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
conservation biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.2
H-Index - 222
eISSN - 1523-1739
pISSN - 0888-8892
DOI - 10.1046/j.1523-1739.2001.015002438.x
Subject(s) - amazon rainforest , mercury (programming language) , wildlife , amazon basin , gold mining , environmental science , contamination , geography , mercury contamination , gold rush , mercury exposure , rainforest , environmental protection , fishery , ecology , biology , archaeology , chemistry , computer science , programming language
Since 1979 the gold rush in the Brazilian Amazon has caused serious environmental damage to one of the most complex ecosystems on Earth. Mainly due to the toxicity of mercury to humans, this problem has received wide public attention and prompted many studies. Although these studies have involved sampling of fish, the negative effect of mercury contamination to fish themselves and other wildlife has been largely ignored. To assess the present level of mercury contamination of fish, and its implication for fish and other animals, we collected and examined data on mercury concentration in fish of the Brazilian Amazon, especially for the Tapajós basin, between 1991 and 1996. We conclude that omnivores and piscivores that live nearer to gold mining areas in the Tapajós basin are already at high risk of mercury toxification, especially reproductive failure. Mercury concentrations in these fish are also high enough to have detrimental effects on animals at higher trophic levels. The same conclusion applies to other mercury‐contaminated areas in the Brazilian Amazon. Because most Amazonian rivers or their tributaries have favorable conditions for mercury contamination, we can expect the problem to persist in the Amazon for a long time, and the consequences are likely to become more significant in the future. These conclusions have important implications for all tropical rainforests where gold mining operations have caused extensive mercury pollution.