Abstract
The use of aquatic plants to analyze the heavy metal pollution of a lake environment has a number of advantages over the standard chemical methods of the analysis of metal presence in water and sediment. The macrophyta Lemna minor L., sampled from Lake Skadar in Montenegro has been used as a bio-indicator. Floating macrophyte L. minor accumulates metals from water through its submerged roots and floated leaves. The contents of Cd, Cu, Co, Cr, Mn, Ni, Pb, Zn, Sr and V were determined in sediments, water and the plant. The results obtained indicated a very high capacity of L. minor for the accumulation of Mn. In addition, higher Zn concentration was found in root tissue comparing to the sediment. The concentration of the other metals under investigation decreases in the following order: sediment > L. minor(root) > L. minor(leaf) > water. Higher concentrations of all metals in the tissue of L. minor were observed at the end of the growing season. A higher metal content was recorded in the root compared to the leaf. In descending order, the concentrations in plant tissues were found for the following metals: Mn > Zn > Sr > Cu > Ni > Pb > Co > V > Cr > Cd, while the series of bioaccumulation is, in descending order: Mn > Zn > Ni > Co > Pb > Cu > Cr > V > Sr > Cd.
Highlights
The ability of aquatic plants to accumulate heavy metals is increasingly being used to monitor changes arising from environmental pollution (ELLES et al, 2000)
Two-thirds of the total area of Skadar Lake is situated in Montenegro (219 km2), and the rest is situated in Albania
The floating macrophyte L. minor accumulated more metals from its surrounding in water through its completely submerged roots, when compared to the leaf that floats on the water surface
Summary
The ability of aquatic plants to accumulate heavy metals is increasingly being used to monitor changes arising from environmental pollution (ELLES et al, 2000). The mechanism of metals uptake is not entirely selective, meaning that plants, through roots and other organs, take in all the accessible ions from the environment, all of them are not necessary for plant metabolism (JASTRZĘBSKA et al, 2010) Depending on their type, the tissues of macrophytes may have a metal content equal to or higher than that present in the surrounding sediment (AYENI, 2010), and that content can be 105 times higher than the concentration in the surrounding water (ALBERS and CAMARDESE, 1993). The chemical analysis of aquatic plants leads to an understanding of the current situation and to the evaluation of the tendencies of environmental changes in time and space In this way, conditions are created for monitoring the quality of the lake ecosystem over a longer period and timely action to prevent the consequences of unfavorable trends can be carried out
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