Abstract
Objective: To analyze the concentrations of 12 micro-nutrients (Al, B, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn,
Ni, Pb, and Zn) in different plant parts of Avicennia marina and its rhizosphere soil of the south
east coast of India.
Methods: The samples were acid digested, then analyzed by using inductively coupled plasma
system (ICP-Optical Emission Spectrophotometer).
Results: Levels of metals were found in the decreasing order: Cd>Co>Ni>Pb>B
>Cr>Zn>Mg>Mn>Cu>Fe>Al. The soil held more levels of metals than plant parts, but within the
permissible limits of concentration. Bark and root accumulated higher levels of trace elements
in a magnitude of 10-80 folds than other plant parts. The overall bioaccumulation factor in the
sampling sites of Vellar, Pichavaram and Cuddalore was 2.88, 1.42 0.47 respectively. Essential
elements accumulate high in mature mangroves forest while non-essential elements accumulate
high in the industrially polluted mangroves.
Conclusions: The ratio between essential and non-essential elements was found higher in young
mangrove forest than that in mature mangrove forest and polluted mangrove areas. Thus, the ratio
of accumulation can be used as an index of the growth and pollution status of mangroves.
Citation
ID:
17493
Ref Key:
kathiresan2014bioaccumulationjournal