A Regional Analysis of Trace Element Water Chemistry With Applications for Reconstructing Environmental Life History of Fishes

Trace elements and minerals can be important for physiological and biochemical functions in aquatic organisms and are also permanently retained in metabolically inert structures in fish, such as otoliths, which can be examined to reconstruct environmental history. Despite the importance of trace elements for biological function and environmental reconstruction, their distribution and dynamics in river systems is poorly understood. The objective of our study was to quantify trace element concentration data from across 14 river basins in Georgia, USA to create elemental concentration profiles and illustrate how spatial changes in water chemistry can be used to construct research hypotheses or make management decisions using results from chemical analyses on hard calcified parts of fish. Principal component analysis revealed substantial variation in water chemistry among and with river basins. Pairwise comparisons of Strontium:Calcium and Barium:Calcium ratios were useful in quantifying specific differences among river systems within river basins. These data will be useful for establishing a baseline for long-term water chemistry monitoring and provides a framework for future fish chemistry research.