Iron, Phosphorus and Trace Elements in Mussels’ Shells, Water, and Bottom Sediments from the Severnaya Dvina and the Onega River Basins (Northwestern Russia)

Artem A Lyubas,Artem V Chupakov,Natalia A Zubrii,Alena A Tomilova,Alexander S Orlov,Oksana V Travina,Ivan N Bolotov,Ilya V Vikhrev,Oleg S Pokrovsky,Alexander V Kondakov

doi:10.3390/w13223227

Abstract

Trace elements in freshwater bivalve shells are widely used for reconstructing long-term changes in the riverine environments. However, Northern Eurasian regions, notably the European Russian North, susceptible to strong environmental impact via both local pollution and climate warming, are poorly studied. This work reports new data on trace elements accumulation by widespread species of freshwater mussels Unio spp. and Anodonta anatina in the Severnaya Dvina and the Onega River Basin, the two largest subarctic river basins in the Northeastern Europe. We revealed that iron and phosphorous accumulation in Unio spp. and Anodonta anatina shells have a strong relationship with a distance from the mouth of the studied river (the Severnaya Dvina). Based on multiparametric statistics comprising chemical composition of shells, water, and sediments, we demonstrated that the accumulation of elements in the shell depends on the environment of the biotope. Differences in the elemental composition of shells between different taxa are associated with ecological preferences of certain species to the substrate. The results set new constraints for the use of freshwater mussels’ shells for monitoring riverine environments and performing paleo-reconstructions.

Highlights

Trace elements (TE) in carbonate shells of bivalve mollusks have been widely used for environmental studies [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9]
Bolotov et al [6] determined that the accumulation of trace elements in the shells of freshwater pearl mussels depends on the environmental conditions of the biotope and has no taxonomic control
The collected shells of bivalve mollusks belonged to two genera (Anodonta and Unio)

Summary

Introduction

Trace elements (TE) in carbonate shells of bivalve mollusks have been widely used for environmental studies [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9]. The use of the Mn/Ca ratio can potentially serve as a high-resolution marker of Mn mobility in the anoxic layer Studying this indicator in the shells of bivalve mollusks can help to retrospectively track environmental changes in aquatic ecosystems caused by eutrophication. Ravera et al [12] evaluated the possibility of assessing the state of abiotic and biotic components of a freshwater ecosystem using concentrations of chemical elements in the shells and tissues of the bivalve mollusks Anodonta anatina (Linnaeus, 1758) and Unio sp., as well as in water, bottom sediments, and aquatic plants These authors demonstrated that these indicators can be a useful tool for long-term studies of environmental pollution

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Conclusion