Uptake and accumulation of metals in Spartina alterniflora salt marshes from a south American estuary

LA COLLA, NOELIA S.; BOTTÉ, SANDRA E.; BOTTÉ, SANDRA E.; NEGRIN, VANESA L.; MARCOVECCHIO, JORGE E.; NEGRIN, VANESA L.; MARCOVECCHIO, JORGE E.; LA COLLA, NOELIA S.

SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT

ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2019 p. 808 - 820

0048-9697

Salt marshes are capable of reducing metal pollution in coastal waters, but this capacity is highly dependent on themetal, the physico-chemical characteristics of the sediment, the plant species, the production of biomass, the time ofthe year, etc. The aim of this study was to assess the uptake and accumulation of Pb, Ni, Cu and Zn in Spartinaalterniflora from three salt marshes within the Bahía Blanca estuary (BBE), a human-impacted Argentinean system.Metal concentrations in sediments and plants showed the same order at all sites: Zn> Cu> Pb≥ Ni. The site withlower organic matter and fine sediment content had lower metal concentrations in the sediments, but not a lowermetal content in the plant tissues, meaning that the sediment characteristics influenced the metal concentrations inACCEPTED MANUSCRIPTACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT2the sediment and their uptake by plants. Despite differences in sediment characteristics between sites, metals werealways higher in the belowground tissues than in aboveground ones and, in general, higher in dead than in livetissues. Some metals were accumulated in plant tissues, but not others, and this is dependent on the metal and thesediment characteristics. Allocation patterns of metals in tissues of S. alterniflora were mainly dependent on metalconcentrations, determining higher belowground pools, but the aboveground pools were important in some cases dueto higher biomass. Partitioning of metals in above or belowground pools determines their fate within the estuarinesystem, since tissues can decompose in situ (belowground) or be exported (aboveground). Seasonal dynamics wereimportant for some variables but were less noticeable than the differences between sites and tissues. Our resultsindicate that S. alterniflora from the BBE is efficient in accumulating some metals, despite usually low metalconcentrations in sediments and plants. This accumulation capacity has implications for the whole system throughthe fate of the tissues