Trace metal biogeochemistry in mangrove ecosystems: A comparative assessment of acidified (by acid sulfate soils) and non-acidified sites

Abstract

The generation of acidity and subsequent mobilization of toxic metals induced by acid sulfate soils (ASSs) are known to cause severe environmental damage to many coastal wetlands and estuaries of Australia and worldwide. Mangrove ecosystems serve to protect coastal environments, but are increasingly threatened from such ASS-induced acidification due to variable hydrological conditions (i.e., inundation–desiccation cycles). However, the impact of such behaviors on trace metal distribution, bio-availability and accumulation in mangrove tissues, i.e., leaves and pneumatophores, are largely unknown. In this study, we examined how ASS-induced acidifications controlled trace metal distribution and bio-availability in gray mangrove (Avicennia marina) soils and in tissues in the Kooragang wetland, New South Wales, Australia. We collected mangrove soils, leaves and pneumatophores from a part of the wetland acidified from ASS (i.e., an affected site) for detailed biogeochemical studies. The results were compared with samples collected from a natural intertidal mangrove forest (i.e., a control site) located within the same wetland. Soil pH (mean: 5.90) indicated acidic conditions in the affected site, whereas pH was near-neutral (mean: 7.17) in the control site. The results did not show statistically significant differences in near-total and bio-available metal concentrations, except for Fe and Mn, between affected and control sites. Iron concentrations were significantly (p values≤0.001) greater in the affected site, whereas Mn concentrations were significantly (p values≤0.001) greater in the control site. However, large proportions of near-total metals were potentially bio-available in control sites. Concentrations of Fe and Ni were significantly (p values≤0.001) greater in leaves and pneumatophores of the affected sites, whereas Mn, Cu, Pb and Zn were greater in control sites. The degree of metal bio-accumulation in leaves and pneumatophores suggest contrasting hydrological behaviors and near-surface geochemical conditions favoring differential metal uptake by mangrove plants in the two sites.