Mercury accumulation in bats near hydroelectric reservoirs in Peninsular Malaysia
Author(s)
Syaripuddin, Khairunnisa; Sing, Kong-Wah; Halim, Muhammad-Rasul A; Nursyereen, Muhammad-Nasir; Wilson, John-James; Halim, Muhammad-Rasul Abdullah; Kumar, Anjali; ... Show more Show less
Download10646_2014_Article_1258.pdf (373.0Kb)
PUBLISHER_POLICY
Publisher Policy
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.
Terms of use
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
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.
Date issued
2014-05Department
MIT-SUTD Collaboration OfficeJournal
Ecotoxicology
Publisher
Springer US
Citation
Syaripuddin, Khairunnisa et al. “Mercury Accumulation in Bats near Hydroelectric Reservoirs in Peninsular Malaysia.” Ecotoxicology 23.7 (2014): 1164–1171.
Version: Author's final manuscript
ISSN
0963-9292
1573-3017