RESUMEN
Seagrasses live in highly variable light environments and adjust to these variations by expressing acclimatory responses at different plant organizational levels (meadow, shoot, leaf and chloroplast level). Yet, comparative studies, to identify species' strategies, and integration of the relative importance of photoacclimatory adjustments at different levels are still missing. The variation in photoacclimatory responses at the chloroplast and leaf level were studied along individual leaves of Cymodocea nodosa, Zostera marina and Z. noltei, including measurements of variable chlorophyll fluorescence, photosynthesis, photoprotective capacities, non-photochemical quenching and D1-protein repair, and assessments of variation in leaf anatomy and chloroplast distribution. Our results show that the slower-growing C. nodosa expressed rather limited physiological and biochemical adjustments in response to light availability, while both species of faster-growing Zostera showed high variability along the leaves. In contrast, the inverse pattern was found for leaf anatomical adjustments in response to light availability, which were more pronounced in C. nodosa. This integrative plant organizational level approach shows that seagrasses differ in their photoacclimatory strategies and that these are linked to the species' life history strategies, information that will be critical for predicting the responses of seagrasses to disturbances and to accordingly develop adequate management strategies.
Asunto(s)
Adaptación Biológica , Alismatales/fisiología , Luz , Alismatales/anatomía & histología , Alismatales/crecimiento & desarrollo , Alismatales/metabolismo , Océano Atlántico , Clorofila/metabolismo , Cloroplastos/metabolismo , Metabolismo , Hojas de la Planta/anatomía & histología , Hojas de la Planta/fisiologíaRESUMEN
The Paranaguá Estuarine Complex (PEC) includes the naturally oligotrophic (NO) Mel Island which is surrounded by sea grasses, a naturally eutrophic (NE) Benito Inlet adjacent to mangrove wetlands and the highly impacted eutrophic (IE) Paranaguá Bay, home of one of Brazil's largest ports. The results from this study indicate that reactive As and pyrite increase with sediment depth near Paranaguá port in the IE region. At the NE region, near a mangrove fringe, the reactive As, Fe, Mn and pyrite remained relatively high along the sediment column while near the sea grasses at NO the As contents were low. The degree of trace metal pyritization (DTMP) and the degree of pyritization (DOP) was highest at the IE site, slightly increasing with depth. These baseline results indicate that influence of trophic conditions and presence of marine vegetation may be directly related to As behavior in coastal systems.
Asunto(s)
Arsénico/análisis , Monitoreo del Ambiente , Estuarios , Eutrofización , Sedimentos Geológicos/química , Alismatales/metabolismo , Bahías , Brasil , Hierro/análisis , Manganeso/análisis , Sulfuros/análisis , Oligoelementos/análisis , HumedalesRESUMEN
Total mercury concentrations are summarized for environmental media and biota collected from near-coastal areas, several impacted by contaminant sources common to the Gulf of Mexico. Water, sediment, fish, blue crabs, oysters, clams, mussels, periphyton and seagrasses were collected during 1993-2002 from targeted areas affected by point and non-point source contaminants. Mean concentrations in water and sediment were 0.02 (+/-1 standard deviation=0.06) microg l(-1) and 96.3 (230.8) ng g(-1) dry wt, respectively. Mean total mercury concentrations in fish, blue crabs, brackish clams and mussels were significantly greater than those in sediment, seagrass, colonized periphyton and oysters. Concentrations (ng g(-1) dry wt) averaged 23.1 (two seagrass species), 220.1 (oysters), 287.8 (colonized periphyton), 604.0 (four species of freshwater mussels), 772.4 (brackish clam), 857.9 (blue crabs) and 933.1 (nine fish species). Spatial, intraspecific and interspecific variability in results limited most generalizations concerning the relative mercury contributions of different stressor types. However, concentrations were significantly greater for some biota collected from areas receiving wastewater discharges and golf course runoff (fish), agricultural runoff (oysters) and urban stormwater runoff (colonized periphyton and sediment). Marine water quality criteria and proposed sediment quality guidelines were exceeded in 1-12% of total samples. At least one seafood consumption guideline, criteria or screening value were exceeded in edible tissues of blue crabs (6% total samples) and nine fish species (8-33% total samples) but all residues were less than the US Federal Drug Administration action limit of 1.0 ppm and the few reported toxic effect concentrations available for the targeted biota.