Model-based explorations of the variability in Lake Trout bioaccumulation factors
Session: 07. - Effects of Environmental Contamination on Fish Communities
Sivani Baskaran, University of Toronto Sarborough, [email protected]
James Armitage, University of Toronto Scarborough, [email protected]
Frank Wania, University of Toronto Scarborough, [email protected]
Abstract
Because dietary uptake of fish is often a major vector of human exposure to persistent organic pollutants (POPs), much effort is directed towards a quantitative understanding of fish bioaccumulation using mechanistic models. However, many such models fail to consider how uptake and loss rate constants relate to fish physiology. Here, we calculate the bioaccumulation factor (BAF) of hypothetical POPs, with octanol-water partition coefficients values ranging from 104.5 to 108.5, in Lake Trout (Salvelinus namaycush) with a food web bioaccumulation model that uses bioenergetics to ensure that physiological parameters applied to a species are internally consistent (i.e. energetically balanced). We modelled fish in six Canadian lakes (Great Slave Lake, Lake Ontario, Source Lake, Happy Isle Lake, Lake Opeongo, and Lake Memphremagog) to understand what causes the BAFs of differently sized lake trout to vary between and within lakes. When comparing differently sized lake trout within a lake, larger fish tend to have the highest BAF, because they allocate less energy towards growth than smaller fish and have higher activity levels. When comparing fish from different lakes, diet composition and prey energy density become important in determining BAF in addition to activity and the amount of total energy allocated to growth.
1. Keyword
bioaccumulation
2. Keyword
bioenergetics
3. Keyword
modeling
4. Additional Keyword
lake trout
5. Additional Keyword
persistent organic pollutants (POPs)