INVESTIGADORES
BOTTE Sandra Elizabeth
congresos y reuniones científicas
Título:
The Role of Spartina alterniflora in heavy metals dynamics in an estuary from the Southern Hemisphere
Autor/es:
BOTTÉ, S.E.; NEGRIN, V.; NAHUELNUAL, E.; GARCÍA, FABIÁN; GUTIÉRREZ, G.; LA COLLA, NOELIA; MARCOVECCHIO, J.E.
Lugar:
Mar del Plata
Reunión:
Congreso; CERF 2012. THE CHANGING COASTAL AND ESTUARINE ENCIRONMENT. A COMPARATIVE APPROACH; 2012
Institución organizadora:
Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation, y por Instituto de Investigaciones marinas y costeras
Resumen:
some heavy metals (Cd, Pb, Cu, Zn, Cr and Ni) concentrations in S.alterniflora tissues (aerial and belowground) and in associated sediments from 5 different areas within the estuary. The data sets are from different years and periods, ranging from an only sampling date (punctual measurement and preliminary results of current research) to 12 or more. The concentration of Cr and Ni were higher in sediments than in both plant tissues for all study areas whereas for Cd and Pb that was observed only for 4 of them. Zn was always higher in belowground tissues than in the other two matrixes and Cu showed the same tendency in 4 of the sites. The bioaccumulation factors (belowground/sediment concentrations) were always higher than 1 for Zn and Cu, meaning that this species would be a good accumulator of these metals in the whole system. The translocation factors (aboveground/belowground values) were always lower than 1 for Zn and Cu, indicating that these metals are mainly retained in roots and hence not easily released back to the environment through decomposition or redistributed within the estuary by tides. The rest of the metals showed a great variability in these factors, both within and between sites. Although S.alterniflora usually transports significant levels of metals to aboveground tissues, at least in the case of Zn and Cu in the Bahía Blanca estuary this would not be occurring. These results highlight the role of S.alterniflora in the cycling of some heavy metals in estuaries as well as its variability within the same system, encouraging more studies. Current research includes values of plant biomass and measurements of sediment conditions, which would help to get a better picture of this system.