Indian Journal of Geo-Marine Sciences

Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Subscription Access

Mangrove Species Selection for Phytoremediation of Heavy Metals From The Sundarbans, Northeast Coast of India


Affiliations
1 Department of Basic Sciences & Humanities, Institute of Engineering & Management, Sector-V, Salt Lake, Kolkata – 700 091, India
 

In the Sundarbans mangrove forest, heavy metals like Zn, Cu, Ni, Co, Pb, and Cr were assessed in soil, leaf, stem and root tissue of various mangrove species. Except for Zn and Cu, the levels of other metals in plant organs were lower than the metal concentration in sediments. Cu and Cr accumulations were to some extent higher in tissues of all mangrove species in comparison to the permissible limit in plants. Physicochemical properties of sediments might greatly influence the availability of metals to mangroves. The mangroves, Nypa fruiticans, Ceriops decandra and Phoenix paludosa are classified as excluders of Cu with more accumulation of metals mainly occurring in roots, with a resultant Translocation Factor (TF) < 1 and a Bioconcentration Factor (BCF) > 1. Both Heritiera fomes and Aegialitis rotundifolia are classified as accumulators, extractors and translocators of Cu and extractors and translocators of Zn. Accumulators could be considered as tolerant as well as indicator plants for controlling the movement of metals from root to shoot that becomes proportional to the metals in the sediment. All of these characteristics of mangrove species in terms of heavy metal accumulation could be considered as phytoremediation potentiality of mangrove plants and associates. More investigation in these aspects needs to be carried out not only to identify other species suitable for phytoremediation but also to ensure safe food chains in the coastal ecosystems.

Keywords

Heavy metals, Mangrove species, Selection, Sundarbans
User
Notifications
Font Size

  • Chaudhuri A B & Choudhury A, Mangroves of the Sundarbans: Vol 1: India, edited by Hussain Z & Acharya G, (IUCN Publication, The World Conservation Union, Bangkok), 1994, pp. 247. ISBN: 978-2-8317-0209-4

  • Kathiresan K, Why are mangroves degrading, Curr Sci, 83 (10) (2002) 1246-1249.

  • Ramanathan A L, Sing G, Majumdar J, Samal A C, Chauhan R, et al., A study of microbial diversity and its interaction with nutrients in the sediments of Sundarbans mangroves, Indian J Geo-Mar Sci, 37 (2) (2008) 159-165.

  • Hoque M A, Sarkar M S, Khan A K U, Moral M A H & Khurram A K M, Present status of salinity rise in Sundarbans area and its effect on Sundari (Heritiera fomes) species, Res J Agric Biol Sci, 2 (3) (2006) 115-121.

  • Lee S Y, Mangrove out welling: a review, Hydrobiologia, 295 (1995) 203-212.

  • Alongi D M, The dynamics of benthic nutrient pools and fluxes in tropical mangrove forests, J Mar Res, 54 (1996) 123-148.

  • Boto K G & Wellington J T, Soil characteristics and nutrient status in the northern Australian mangrove forest, Estuaries, 7 (1984) 61-69. https://doi.org/10.2307/1351957

  • De T K, De M, Das M, Ray R & Ghosh P B, Level of heavy metals in some edible marine fishes of mangrove dominated tropical estuarine areas of Hooghly River, North-east coast of Bay of Bengal, India, Bull Environ Contam Toxicol, 85 (4) (2010) 385-390. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00128-010-0102-1

  • Ghosh P B & Chaudhury A, Cu, Zn and Pb in sediments of Hooghly estuary, Environ Ecol, 7 (2) (1989) 427-430.

  • Jaishankar M, Tseten T, Anbalagan N, Mathew B B & Beeregowda K N, Toxicity mechanism and health effects of some heavy metals, Interdiscip Toxicol, 7 (2) (2014) 60-72. https://doi.org/10.2478/intox-2014-0009

  • Macfarlane G, Pulkownik A & Burchett M, Accumulation and distribution of heavy metals in the grey mangrove, Avicennia marina (Forsk) Vierh: biological indication potential, Environ Pollut, 123 (1) (2003) 139-151. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0269-7491(02)00342-1

  • Kannan N, Thirunavukkarasu N, Suresh A & Rajgopal K, Analysis of heavy metal accumulation in mangroves and associated mangrove species of Ennore mangrove ecosystem, East Coast India, Indian J Sci Technol, 9 (46) (2016) 1-12. https://doi.org/10.17485/ijst/2016/v9i46/101551

  • Chatterjee M, Massolo S, Sarkar S K, Bhatterjaya A K, Bhatterjyaya B D, et al., An assessment of trace element contamination in intertidal sediment cores of Sundarban mangrove wetland, India, Environ Monit Assess, 150 (2009) 307-322. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-008-0232-7

  • Ghosh S, Bakshi M, Kumar A, Ramanathan A L, Biswas J K, et al., Assessing the potential ecological risk of Co, Cr, Cu, Fe and Zn in the sediments of Hooghly–Matla estuarine system, India, Environ Geochem Health, 41 (2019) 53–70.

  • Ray R, Mandal S K, González A G, Pokrovsky O S & Jana T K, Storage and recycling of major and trace element in mangroves, Sci Total Environ, 780 (2021) p. 146379.

  • Choudhury R, Favas P J C, Pratas J, Jonathan M P, Sankar Ganesh P, et al., Accumulation of trace metals by mangrove plants in Indian Sundarban Wetland: Prospects for phytoremediation, Int J Phytoremediation, 17 (9) (2015) 885–894. https://doi.org/10.1080/15226514.2014.981244

  • Tam N F Y & Wong Y S, Spatial variation of heavy metals in surface sediments of Hong Kong mangrove swamps, Environ Pollut, 110 (2) (2000) 195–205. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0269-7491(99)00310-3

  • Yadav S K, Heavy metals toxicity in plants: An overview on the role of glutathione and phytochelatins in heavy metal stress tolerance of plants, S Afr J Bot, 76 (2) (2010) 167–179. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sajb.2009.10.007

  • Nedjimil B, Phytoremediation: a sustainable environmental technology for heavy metals decontamination, SN Appl Sci, 3 (2021) 286. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42452-021-04301-4

  • Jackson M L, Soil Chemical Analysis, (Prentice Hall of India Pvt Ltd, New Delhi), 1967, pp. 498.

  • Walkley A & Black T A, An examination of the Degradation method for determining soil organic matter: proposed modification of the chromic acid titration, Soil Sci, 37 (1934) 29-35.

  • US EPA, Method 3050B: Acid digestion of sediments, sludges and soils, (US Environmental Protection agency, USA), 1996, pp. 12.

  • Usman A R A, Lee S S, Awad Y M, Lim K J, Yang J E, et al., Soil pollution assessment and identification of hyper accumulating plants in chromated copper arsenate (CCA) contaminated sites, Korea, Chemosphere, 87 (8) (2012) 872–878. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2012.01.028

  • Ghosh P B, Chakraborty C, Saha A, Singh B N & Chaudhury A, Mangrove litter production in a tidal creek of Lothian island of Sundarbans, India, Indian J Geo- Mar Sci, 19 (1990) 292-293.

  • Ghosh P B, Chakraborty C, Saha A, Singh B N & Chaudhury A, Productivity of grass Porteresia coarctata in mangrove forest of Sundarbans, Indian J Geo-Mar Sci, 20 (1991) 280-282.

  • Mukherjee D P, Mukherjee A & Kumar B, Chemical fractionation of metals in freshly deposited marine estuarine sediments of Sundarbans ecosystem, India, Environ Geol, 58 (2009) 1757-1767. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00254-008-1675-4

  • Wedepohl K H, The composition of the continental crust, Geochim Cosmochim Acta, 59 (7) (1995) 1217-1232. https://doi.org/10.1016/0016-7037(95)00038-2

  • Hakanson L, Ecological risk index for aquatic pollution control, a sedimentological approach, Water Res, 14 (8) (1980) 975-1001. https://doi.org/10.1016/0043-1354(80)90143-8

  • Agoramoorthy G, Chen F A & Hsu M J, Threat of heavy metal pollution in halophytic and mangrove plants of Tamil Nadu, India, Environ Pollut, 155 (2) (2008) 320-326. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2007.11.011

  • Mukherjee S, Ghosh P B, Sarkar S & Saha T, Environmental variability of some edaphic components from virgin areas of tropical mangrove forest of sundarbans, India, Indian J Geo- Mar Sci, 44 (11) (2015) 1815-1824.

  • Sundaray S K, Nayak B B, Lin S & Bhatta D, Geochemical speciation and risk assessment of heavy metals in the river estuarine sediments - a case study: Mahanadi basin, India, J Hazard Mater, 186 (2-3) (2011) 1837–1846. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2010.12.081

  • Kumar S, Karmoker J, Pal B K, Luo C & Zhao M, Trace metals contamination in different compartments of the Sundarbans mangrove: A review, Mar Pollut Bull, 148 (2019) 47–60. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2019.07.063

  • Ross S M & Kaye K J, The meaning of metal toxicity in soil-plant system, In: Toxic Metals in Soil-Plant System, edited by Ross S M, (John Wiley & Sons, New York), 1994, pp. 27-61.

  • Murray H, Thompson K A & Macfie S M, Site and speciesspecific patterns of metal bioavailability in edible plants, Botany, 87 (7) (2009) 702-711.

  • Naidoo G, Hiralal T & Naidoo Y, Ecophysiological response of the mangrove Avicennia marina to trace metal contamination, Flora-Morphol Distrib Funct Ecol Plants, 209 (1) (2014) 63-72. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.flora.2013.10.003


Abstract Views: 124

PDF Views: 58




  • Mangrove Species Selection for Phytoremediation of Heavy Metals From The Sundarbans, Northeast Coast of India

Abstract Views: 124  |  PDF Views: 58

Authors

P. Mukherjee
Department of Basic Sciences & Humanities, Institute of Engineering & Management, Sector-V, Salt Lake, Kolkata – 700 091, India
P. K. Das
Department of Basic Sciences & Humanities, Institute of Engineering & Management, Sector-V, Salt Lake, Kolkata – 700 091, India
P. Ghosh
Department of Basic Sciences & Humanities, Institute of Engineering & Management, Sector-V, Salt Lake, Kolkata – 700 091, India

Abstract


In the Sundarbans mangrove forest, heavy metals like Zn, Cu, Ni, Co, Pb, and Cr were assessed in soil, leaf, stem and root tissue of various mangrove species. Except for Zn and Cu, the levels of other metals in plant organs were lower than the metal concentration in sediments. Cu and Cr accumulations were to some extent higher in tissues of all mangrove species in comparison to the permissible limit in plants. Physicochemical properties of sediments might greatly influence the availability of metals to mangroves. The mangroves, Nypa fruiticans, Ceriops decandra and Phoenix paludosa are classified as excluders of Cu with more accumulation of metals mainly occurring in roots, with a resultant Translocation Factor (TF) < 1 and a Bioconcentration Factor (BCF) > 1. Both Heritiera fomes and Aegialitis rotundifolia are classified as accumulators, extractors and translocators of Cu and extractors and translocators of Zn. Accumulators could be considered as tolerant as well as indicator plants for controlling the movement of metals from root to shoot that becomes proportional to the metals in the sediment. All of these characteristics of mangrove species in terms of heavy metal accumulation could be considered as phytoremediation potentiality of mangrove plants and associates. More investigation in these aspects needs to be carried out not only to identify other species suitable for phytoremediation but also to ensure safe food chains in the coastal ecosystems.

Keywords


Heavy metals, Mangrove species, Selection, Sundarbans

References