Abstract
The study deals with the accumulation of Pb, Zn and Cd in an important mangrove species, Avicennia marina (Forssk.) Vierh., in the Vamleshwar mangrove ecosystem, near Narmada estuary, West coast of Gujarat, India with height differences of 0.5, 1.5, 2.5 meters and carried out under field conditions during October, 2009. The site was located on 21 °30´11.55´´ N latitude and 72°43´53.68´´ E longitude. Mangrove receives heavy metal pollution from upstream areas of Narmada estuary and highly populated settlements. However, little is known about the capacity of mangrove plants to take up and store heavy metals in them. Water, sediment and plant parts such as roots, stems and leaves were analyzed for finding the trace metal accumulation of different height groups by Inductive Coupled Plasma Analyser (ICPA). Amount of the content of metals found in the water, sediment and plant parts were in the order of Pb>Zn>Cd. The average contents of heavy metals in the waters were 57.83 mg l -1 for Pb, 3.89 83 mg l -1 for Zn and 0.42 mg l -1 for Cd. It was observed that the average contents of Pb (73.6 mg l -1 ), Zn (8.1 mg l -1 ) and Cd (0.73 mg l -1 ) in the sediments were below the critical soil concentrations. The concentrations of heavy metals in different parts of Avicennia marina were in the order Roots>stem>leaf except for Cd, but Cd found higher in leaf. The ranges of the content of heavy metals in plants were 18.5-102.2 mg l -1 for Pb, 3.5-19.5 mg l -1 for Zn and 0.2-4.1 mg l -1 for Cd. The concentrations of all heavy metals in Avicennia marina except Pb were falling within the normal range and were much more in the plants have the highest height. The present study has shown the potential of Avicennia marina as a phytoremediation species for selected heavy metals in many mangrove ecosystems.
Highlights
Mangrove ecosystems are highly productive and play a vital role as a major primary producer within estuarine systems
Heavy metal accumulation in the mangrove sediments, water and mangrove plant parts The average concentration of Pb (73.6 mg l-1) was higher in the sediments followed by Zn (8.1 mg l-1), and Cd (0.73 mg l-1) (Fig. 2A-2C). like sediment the concentration of Pb (57.83 mg l-1) in water was greater than the other two elements (Zn-3.89 mg l-1and Cd-0.42 mg l-1)
The comparison of the total concentrations of the selected heavy metals in the sediments with those from other countries showed that the concentration of Cd in this study was greater than those measured in Buloh River and Khatib Bongsu River at Singapore by Cuong et al (2005), Brisbane River, Australia by Mackey et al (1992) and Mai Po river, Hong Kong by Ong Che (1999)
Summary
Mangrove ecosystems are highly productive and play a vital role as a major primary producer within estuarine systems. The uniqueness of A. marina root system serves as a habitat and nursery area for many juvenile fish and crustaceans, which have both direct and indirect socioeconomic significance and are of great importance to many scientific studies. Water pollution around the mining and smelting areas has been clearly demonstrated by the high concentrations of heavy metals in water, sediments, and aquatic organisms (Cardwell et al, 2002; Demirezen and Aksoy, 2004; Samecka-Cymerman and Kempers, 2004). Many studies have been carried out on various plants to determine its heavy metal accumulation capability in different aquatic and forest environments and vegetable crops (Nirmal Kumar et al, 2006, 2007, 2009; Silva et al, 2006; Yu et al, 2007; ). The present study presents data on the concentrations of three metals (Pb, Zn and Cd) in water, sediment, and in leaves, stems and roots of A. marina
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