Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40904219›Full record

ArticleEnvironmental science & technology2025

Production of Methylmercury in Peatlands Following Permafrost Thaw Increases along a Trophic Gradient.

Lauren M Thompson, Renae Shewan, Vaughn Mangal, Lorna I Harris, Chi Him Cheng, Lucas P P Braga, Olesya Kolmakova, Andrew J Tanentzap, Klaus H Knorr, McKenzie A Kuhn and 8 more

Abstract read
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In one paragraph

Article in Environmental science & technology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

18 authors.

Lauren M ThompsonDepartment of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2R3, Canada.ORCID 0000-0002-6455-4980
Renae ShewanDepartment of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2R3, Canada.
Vaughn MangalDepartment of Chemistry, Brock University, St. Catharines, ON L2S 3A1, Canada.
Lorna I HarrisDepartment of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2R3, Canada.
Chi Him ChengEcosystems and Global Change Group, Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EA, England.
Lucas P P BragaEcosystems and Global Change Group, Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EA, England.
Olesya KolmakovaEcosystems and Global Change Group, Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EA, England.
Andrew J TanentzapEcosystems and Global Change Group, Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EA, England.
Klaus H KnorrEcohydrology & Biogeochemistry Group, Institute of Landscape Ecology, University of Münster, Münster 48149, Germany.ORCID 0000-0003-4175-0214
McKenzie A KuhnDepartment of Geography, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z2, Canada.
Charlotte HaugkDepartment of Environmental Science, Stockholm University, Stockholm SE-106 91, Sweden.
Alyssa AzaroffDepartment of Environmental Science, Stockholm University, Stockholm SE-106 91, Sweden.
Sofi JonssonDepartment of Environmental Science, Stockholm University, Stockholm SE-106 91, Sweden.
Vincent L St LouisDepartment of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2H5, Canada.
Igor LehnherrDepartment of Geography, Geomatics and Environment, University of Toronto Mississauga, Mississauga, ON L5L 1C6, Canada.ORCID 0000-0002-4618-7128
William L QuintonDepartment of Geography and Environmental Studies, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada.
Oliver SonnentagDépartement de Géographie, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC H2 V 0B3, Canada.
David OlefeldtDepartment of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2R3, Canada.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Permafrost thaw in peatlands risks increasing the production and mobilization of methylmercury (MeHg), a bioaccumulative neurotoxin that poses a health hazard to humans. We studied 12 peatlands on a trophic gradient in northwestern Canada, including permafrost peat plateaus and thawed bogs and fens, to determine the effects of thaw on MeHg production from measures of soil and porewater MeHg and in situ methylation assays. The production of MeHg was greater in thawed peatlands, especially rich fens, as indicated by higher potential rates of microbial methylation of inorganic mercury (Hg) to MeHg and higher soil %MeHg (MeHg:total Hg). Soil %MeHg was 0.1% in permafrost peat plateaus, 0.7% in bogs, and 2.0% in fens. Microbial analysis indicated three putative methylators (two methanogens and one novel bacteria) as most influential to the community composition, although their abundances were not consistently highest in fens. Fens had a greater range of porewater MeHg concentrations than bogs, potentially due to hydrological flushing, controls on MeHg solubility, or redox disequilibria in fens. MeHg in porewater was strongly associated with dissolved organic matter that had a low aromaticity and a low oxygen-to-carbon ratio. Regionally upscaling our results suggested that the expansion of bogs and fens due to thawing may increase the landscape-scale potential for MeHg production by 65% by 2100, representing a substantial risk to downstream aquatic ecosystems.

Indexed as

Methylmercury CompoundsPermafrostSoilMercuryMercuryMethylmercury CompoundsSoilclimate changedissolved organic mattermercurymicrobial communityporewatersoilthermokarst wetlands

Identifiers

PMID40904219
PMCPMC12445337

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.