Trophic Strategies Influence Metal Bioaccumulation in Detritus-Based, Aquatic Food Webs

Metal accumulation in aquatic food webs is mediated by physiochemical parameters of the environment and organismal traits. Trophic strategies influence an organisms’ exposure to metal pollution, but links between trophic ecology and exposure to divalent metals are relatively understudied. While organically bound metals are typically considered unavailable for uptake, organisms directly consuming dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and bacteria—via the microbial loop—must also be consuming organically bound metals. Hence, we predicted animals feeding within the microbial loop would accumulate metals through their diet. To test this prediction, we exploited dietary differences between two organisms, Simulium vittatum, a filter-feeding black fly and Hyalella azteca, a shredding detritivore. We exposed both species to three treatments of DOC (labile, recalcitrant, and no additional DOC) that were crossed with exposure to variable copper (Cu) concentrations (2–14 μg L–1) in laboratory microcosms. As predicted, H. a...