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Zinc in an ultraoligotrophic lake food web

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Abstract

Zinc (Zn) bioaccumulation and trophic transfer were analyzed in the food web of Lake Nahuel Huapi, a deep, unpolluted ultraoligotrophic system in North Patagonia. Benthic macroinvertebrates, plankton, and native and introduced fish were collected at three sites. The effect of pyroclastic inputs on Zn levels in lacustrine food webs was assessed by studying the impact of the eruption of Puyehue-Cordón Caulle volcanic complex (PCCVC) in 2011, by performing three sampling campaigns immediately before and after the PCCVC eruption, and after 2 years of recovery of the ecosystem. Zinc trophodynamics in L. Nahuel Huapi food web was assessed using nitrogen stable isotopes (δ15N). There was no significant increase of Zn concentrations ([Zn]) in L. Nahuel Huapi biota after the PCCVC eruption, despite the evidence of [Zn] increase in lake water that could be associated with volcanic ash leaching. The organisms studied exhibited [Zn] above the threshold level considered for dietary deficiency, regulating Zn adequately even under a catastrophic situations like PCCVC 2011 eruption. Zinc concentrations exhibited a biodilution pattern in the lake’s food web. To the best of our knowledge, present research is the first report of Zn biodilution in lacustrine systems, and the first to study Zn transfer in a freshwater food web including both pelagic and benthic compartments.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to express their gratitude to the staff of the Reactor RA–6 (Centro Atómico Bariloche), and the Queen’s University Facility for Isotope Research for their assistance in sample analysis. This work was partially supported by the projects PICT 2005-33838, PICT 2006-1051, and PICT 2012-1720 of the Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica (Argentina), project Cod. 06/C414 (Universidad Nacional de Cuyo), and by the International Atomic Agency, project TCA-ARG/7/006.

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Montañez, J.C., Arribére, M.A., Rizzo, A. et al. Zinc in an ultraoligotrophic lake food web. Environ Sci Pollut Res 25, 15422–15435 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-018-1725-8

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