Distribution and Release of Mercury Regulated by the Decomposition of a Pioneer Habitat-Adapted Plant in the Water-Level-Fluctuating Zone of the Three Gorges Reservoir

Abstract

Pioneer habitat-adapted bermudagrass is prevalent in the water-level-fluctuating zone of the Three Gorges Reservoir area. This study was performed to explore the response characteristics of dissolved organic matter (DOM) qualities to bermudagrass decomposition and their regulation in the distribution and release of mercury (Hg) and methylmercury (MeHg) in the soil-water system. Compared to the control, the bermudagrass decomposition resulted in a great increase in the protein-like components in the water in the initial stages (p < 0.01), but it also greatly reduced the humification degree of water DOM (p < 0.01). However, it accelerated the consumption of protein-like components, the humification rate, and the synthesis of humic-like DOM in the water over time. This changing pattern of the DOM qualities resulted in an initial elevation and a subsequent great decrease in the dissolved Hg and MeHg concentrations in the pore water, which ultimately reduced their release levels into the overlying water by 26.50% and 54.42%, respectively, compared to the control. Our results indicate the potential inhibitory effects of short-term bermudagrass decomposition caused by flooding and how decomposition affects the release of total Hg and MeHg by shaping the DOM qualities, and they have implications for similar aquatic systems in which herbaceous plants are frequently decomposed after submergence.

Keywords: Bermudagrass; Dissolved organic matter; Mercury; Methylmercury; Three Gorges reservoir; Water-level-fluctuating zone.