Macrophyta as a vector of contemporary and historical mercury from the marine environment to the trophic web.

Magdalena Bełdowska,Joanna Słupkowska,Dominka Saniewska,Michał Saniewski,Agnieszka Jędruch

doi:10.1007/s11356-014-4003-4

Abstract

Macrophyta are the initial link introducing toxic mercury to the trophic chain. Research was carried out at 24 stations located within the Polish coastal zone of the Southern Baltic, in the years 2006–2012. Fifteen taxa were collected, belonging to four phyla: green algae (Chlorophyta), brown algae (Phaeophyta), red algae (Rhodophyta) and flowering vascular plants (Angiospermophyta), and total mercury concentrations were ascertained. The urbanisation of the coastal zone has influenced the rise in Hg concentrations in macroalgae, and the inflow of contaminants from the river drainage area has contributed to an increase in metal concentration in vascular plants. At the outlets of rivers possessing the largest drainage areas in the Baltic (the Vistula and the Oder), no increases in mercury concentration were observed in macrophyta. Increase in environmental quality and a prolonged vegetative season results in the growing coverage of algae on the seabed and in consequence leads to rapid introduction of contemporary mercury and Hg deposited to sediments over the past decades into the trophic chain. Thriving phytobenthos was found to affect faster integration of Hg into the trophic web.

Highlights

Mercury is considered to be one of the most dangerous contaminants of the environment
The plant material collected in the Polish coastal zone of the Baltic Sea in the years 2006–2012 consisted of both macroalgae and vascular plants
15 taxa belonging to four phyla were identified—green algae: Chara sp., Cladophora sp., Ectocarpus siliculosus, Elodea canadensis and Enteromorpha sp.; brown algae: Chorda filum, Fucus vesiculosus, Pylaiella littoralis and Sphacelaria cirrosa; red algae: Furcellaria lumbricalis and Polysiphonia sp.; and flowering vascular plants: Potamogeton pectinatus, Ruppia maritima, Zannichellia palustris and Zostera marina

Summary

Introduction

Mercury is considered to be one of the most dangerous contaminants of the environment. The adverse effect of Hg is related to its strong chemical and biological activity, as a result of which it is absorbed by organisms and spreads in the environment very rapidly. People have used mercury for centuries, but emission of this metal into the environment increased significantly in the twentieth century as a result of industrial development. Owing to the highly adverse effects of Hg, numerous actions have been undertaken in recent decades aimed at replacing technologies involving mercury with more environmentally friendly alternatives. This has resulted in a much lower Hg inflow into the ecosystem

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Results

Conclusion