The excretion of heavy metals by the salt marsh cord grass,Spartina alterniflora, and Spartina's role in mercury cycling |
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Authors: | Mark L Kraus Peddrick Weis John H Crow |
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Abstract: | Excreted salts and leaves from the Salt Marsh Cordgrass Spartina alterniflora were collected from two different sites. One site, Piles Creek (PC), is near heavily industrialized Linden, New Jersey, USA. The other site, Big Sheepshead Creek (BSC), is located near non-industrialized Tuckerton, New Jersey, USA. PC soil concentrations of mercury were 18·17 ± 7·67 ppm, while BSC soil concentrations were 0·22 ± 0·04 ppm. Spartina leaves from PC contained 0·16 ± 0·07 ppm of mercury, and BSC leaves contained 0·02 ± 0·0 ppm. Laboratory studies showed that S. alterniflora from both sites was capable of excreting mercury. Field collected salts from PC Spartina plants contained 0·11 ± 0·02 ppm of mercury, 2·60 ± 0·52 ppm of cadmium and 11·98 ± 0·94 ppm of zinc. These levels of heavy metals were as much as five- and-a-half times the concentrations of these metals found in ambient sea salts. |
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