Synthesis by the Aquatic Cyling of Mercury in the Everglades

The Aquatic Cycling of Mercury in the Everglades (ACME) project was originally designed to examine the reasons behind the observed high levels of mercury in predatory fish across most at the Everglades, and to do so by focusing on fundamental biogeochemical processes. The overall goal of the ACME project was to provide information that would be useful to state and federal management agencies responsible for making Everglades restoration plans, and to hopefully include strategies for reducing mercury toxicity to this fragile ecosystem. Originally, the scientific breadth of the ACME project was limited to critical areas of study central to the mercury contamination issue. After initiation of field studies in 1995, however, substantial information gaps in many basic areas of ecosystem research were revealed for the Everglades (e.g., hydrology, microbiology, and food web studies). As a result, the scope of the effort was expanded to what now is a more complete, general study of biogeochemistry of the Everglades ecosystem. In addition, the geographic coverage was expanded from original plans that called for focusing on just the northern Water Conservation areas, to now, where we sample a complete north-to-south transect of the remaining Everglades (Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge to Taylor Slough).