Use ofCladophora glomerata to monitor heavy metals in rivers |
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Authors: | B A Whitton I G Burrows M G Kelly |
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Institution: | 1. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Durham, Durham, DH1 3LE, UK
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Abstract: | Methods were developed for the use ofCladophora glomerata to monitor heavy metal concentrations in flowing waters. At least under conditions without marked fluctuations in ambient
metal concentration, there was no detectable difference in the metal concentrations of young plants between terminal 2-cm
lengths of filament and whole plants. In order to establish the relationship between metal concentration in plant and that
in water, 60 algal and water samples were analyzed from sites in northern England for Fe, Cu, Zn, Cd and Pb. Other environmental
variables were measured at the time in order to assess their influence on metal accumulation. There were highly significant
correlations for each of the five metals between concentrations in alga and water. The regression equations relating metal
in alga to metal in water permit an unknown environmental metal concentration to be estimated from the algal concentration.
Multiple stepwise regression analyses were used to indicate environmental factors which may influence metal accumulation;
for instance, Fe appears to have a positive influence on Cu accumulation.
In generalCladophora accumulates much less metal than bryophytes, but the slope relating metal in alga to metal in water is steeper, particularly
for Pb. This means thatCladophora is especially useful where there is a need for a sensitive indicator of differences between sites or sampling occasions. |
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Keywords: | Cladophora iron copper zinc cadmium lead accumulation monitoring river |
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