Survivorship and growth of Fucus gardneri after transplant to an acid mine drainage-polluted area

Abstract

Acid mine drainage (AMD) from an abandoned copper mine at Britannia Beach, British Columbia, Canada, enters the marine environment through Britannia Creek. The surrounding intertidal zone is devoid of rockweed, Fucus gardneri Silva, a seaweed that dominates nearby shores. Rockweed plants were transplanted to the intertidal zone near Britannia Creek and monitored for changes in percent cover, survivorship, growth rate and Cu content. Autumn and winter transplants to within 100 m of Britannia Creek resulted in negative growth rates and high mortality within 57 days of exposure to AMD, with Cu levels in rockweed surpassing 2300 ppm in dry tissue. Summer transplants to sites 300–700 m from Britannia Creek showed no consistent differences between AMD-exposed rockweed and control plants, possibly because the plants were stressed by desiccation. The results are consistent with ecological effects observed in other studies, and provide strong evidence for the role of AMD in excluding rockweed from the shores near Britannia Creek.