Accumulation of Selenium and Trace Metals on Plant Litter in a Tidal Marsh

Zawislanski, P.T.; Chau, S.; Mountford, Hayley S.; Wong, H.C.; Sears, Tobin

doi:10.1006/ecss.2001.0772

Cited by 46 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…These values are much higher than those observed in the Wash. It is unclear how much Se or As would be easily taken up by invertebrates feeding on decomposing material in the Wash. A portion of the trace elements may be inert as seen by ZAWISLANSKI et al (2001) in their study of decomposing marsh plant species where large amounts of Se and other trace metals were found in association with fine sediment on plant material. This fine sediment was present despite cleaning material before analysis.…”

Section: In Streamsmentioning

confidence: 49%

Comparisons of Macrophyte Breakdown, Associated Plant Chemistry, and Macroinvertebrates in a Wastewater Dominated Stream

Nelson¹

2011

International Review of Hydrobiology

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Replacement of native macrophyte species with exotic or invasive ones affects the quality of detritus entering streams and can alter nutrient cycles and community structure in aquatic ecosystems. Decomposition of air-dried native hardstem bulrush (Schoenoplectus acutus), invasive southern cattail (Typha domingensis), and exotic common reed (Phragmites australis) were studied in an urban stream (Las Vegas, Nevada, USA) using litter bags. Samples were analyzed for dry mass, lignin, nutrients, trace elements, and macroinvertebrates. Litter type and sediment deposited on plant material influenced material loss. Trace elements arsenic and selenium increased in plant material to concentrations considered marginal for ecosystem contamination by exposure day 76. Mercury increases were inconsistent across plant species and did not exceed limits. Bulrush decomposed faster, and tended to have higher selenium concentrations, than did invasive southern cattail and exotic common reed. Macroinvertebrate communities colonizing litter bags were similar across plant litter types, but differed from mesh-only bags and samples collected with a kick-net. Macroinvertebrate exclusion resulted in significantly lower loss rates, but functional feeding groups such as shredders were not associated with decomposition differences. The caddisfly, Smicridea, physically modified stem material and aided in processing, but microbes appeared most important in biological material breakdown. IntroductionEmergent macrophytes are often important in wetland environments, with shoots providing structure, primary production, and the basis for detrital food webs after senescence. Important processes may be altered when environments are invaded by invasive plant species associated with increased biomass, increased nitrogen availability, and higher litter decomposition rates relative to native plant species (EHRENFELD, 2003). Replacement of native emergent vegetation by aggressive invasives such as common reed (Phragmites australis (CAV.) TRIN. ex STEUDEL) is considered a threat to affected wetlands (MARKS et al., 1994). Ecosystem changes from reed invasion include increased biomass (FINDLAY et al., 2002) which in theory could impact aquatic organisms via increased biological oxygen demand or habitat alteration. The decomposition of organic matter is often considered an integrative measure of biotic and abiotic attributes of stream ecosystems (e.g., TANK et al., 2010). In urban environments, where non-native plants may be common, some ecological processes, like plant breakdown rates, may be insufficiently known (IMBERGER et al., 2008 Later, increased population growth in the area intensified the discharge of water treatment facilities into the Wash resulting in large amounts of channel erosion. This down-cutting and channelization of the Wash caused the water table to fall, draining the previously inundated floodplain. Wetland areas were largely diminished as a result. The Wash ultimately flows into Lake Mead, on the Colorado River, which is a source...

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Section: In Streamsmentioning

confidence: 49%

Comparisons of Macrophyte Breakdown, Associated Plant Chemistry, and Macroinvertebrates in a Wastewater Dominated Stream

Nelson¹

2011

International Review of Hydrobiology

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“…When selenium concentrations in sediment samples were normalized for TOC (by dividing the dry weight sediment concentration by the percentage of TOC in sediment expressed as a decimal fraction; Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources 2003), their correlations with selenium concentrations in water, detritus, algae, plankton, midges, mosquitofish, and mollies were not significant ( Table 6). The importance of particulate organic detritus as an initial receptor of selenium uptake in aquatic food chains exposed to seleniferous water, including agricultural drainwater, has been demonstrated by other investigators (e.g., Gao et al 2003;Sundberg et al 2006;Zawislanski et al 2001). In a study of the accumulation of metals in litter from five different plant species, Zawislanski et al (2001) observed as much as a 30-fold increase in selenium concentrations in plant tissues initially placed in the litter bags.…”

Section: General Patterns Of Selenium Bioaccumulationmentioning

confidence: 78%

“…The importance of particulate organic detritus as an initial receptor of selenium uptake in aquatic food chains exposed to seleniferous water, including agricultural drainwater, has been demonstrated by other investigators (e.g., Gao et al 2003;Sundberg et al 2006;Zawislanski et al 2001). In a study of the accumulation of metals in litter from five different plant species, Zawislanski et al (2001) observed as much as a 30-fold increase in selenium concentrations in plant tissues initially placed in the litter bags. Zawislanski et al (2001) attributed the enrichment primarily to the association of very fine particle matter with detritus, either from the physical coating of detritus with organic and iron-rich microlayers or from coprecipitation with iron and manganese oxides.…”

Section: General Patterns Of Selenium Bioaccumulationmentioning

confidence: 78%

“…In a study of the accumulation of metals in litter from five different plant species, Zawislanski et al (2001) observed as much as a 30-fold increase in selenium concentrations in plant tissues initially placed in the litter bags. Zawislanski et al (2001) attributed the enrichment primarily to the association of very fine particle matter with detritus, either from the physical coating of detritus with organic and iron-rich microlayers or from coprecipitation with iron and manganese oxides. Gao et al (2003) reported that plant detritus (fallen litter) accumulated as much as 23.4 μg Se/g (a factor of 1,286) when exposed to agricultural drainwater containing an average of 18.2 μg Se/L in a flowthrough experimental wetland system.…”

Section: General Patterns Of Selenium Bioaccumulationmentioning

confidence: 96%

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Selenium in aquatic biota inhabiting agricultural drains in the Salton Sea Basin, California

Saiki

Martin

May

2011

Environ Monit Assess

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Resource managers are concerned that water conservation practices in irrigated farmlands along the southern border of the Salton Sea, Imperial County, California, could increase selenium concentrations in agricultural drainwater and harm the desert pupfish (Cyprinodon macularius), a federally protected endangered species. As part of a broader attempt to address this concern, we conducted a 3-year investigation to collect baseline information on selenium concentrations in seven agricultural drains inhabited by pupfish. We collected water, sediment, selected aquatic food-chain taxa (particulate organic detritus, filamentous algae, net plankton, and midge [Chironomidae] larvae), and two poeciliid fishes (western mosquitofish Gambusia affinis and sailfin molly Poecilia latipinna) for selenium determinations. The two fish species served as ecological surrogates for pupfish, which we were not permitted to sacrifice. Dissolved selenium ranged from 0.70 to 32.8 μg/L, with selenate as the major constituent. Total selenium concentrations in other environmental matrices varied widely among drains, with one drain (Trifolium 18) exhibiting especially high concentrations in detritus, 5.98-58.0 μg Se/g; midge larvae, 12.7-50.6 μg Se/g; mosquitofish, 13.2-20.2 μg Se/g; and mollies, 12.8-30.4 μg Se/g (all tissue concentrations are based on dry weights). Although toxic thresholds for selenium in fishes from the Salton Sea are still poorly understood, available evidence suggests that ambient concentrations of this element may not be sufficiently elevated to adversely affect reproductive success and survival in selenium-tolerant poeciliids and pupfish.

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“…A literature review provided evidence regarding an efficient pathway for Se treatment involving addition of an organic carbon source to enhance removal of soluble Se (selenate and selenite) from water through microbial reduction (Zawislanski et al 2001b;Zhang and Frankenberger 2005) in anaerobic aquatic environments (Maiers et al 1988;Siddique et al 2007). This was incorporated into design of the pilot-scale CWTS by evaluating the efficiency of two different organic carbon/energy source amendments to enhance microbial abundance and activity: sucrose and a dried yeast product/nutrient additive (Aqua-Smart TM , Diamond V Corporation, Cedar Rapids, IA).…”

Section: Pilot-scale Cwts For Pw Containing Metalloids and Low Molecumentioning

confidence: 99%

Innovative Water Management Technology to Reduce Environment Impacts of Produced Water

Castle

Rodgers

Alley

et al. 2013

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Clemson University with Chevron as an industry partner developed and applied treatment technology using constructed wetland systems to decrease targeted constituents in simulated and actual produced waters to achieve reuse criteria and discharge limits. Pilot-scale and demonstration constructed wetland treatment system (CWTS) experiments led to design strategies for treating a variety of constituents of concern (COCs) in produced waters including divalent metals, metalloids, oil and grease, and ammonia. Targeted biogeochemical pathways for treatment of COCs in pilot-scale CWTS experiments included divalent metal sulfide precipitation through dissimilatory sulfate reduction, metal precipitation through oxidation, reduction of selenite to insoluble elemental selenium, aerobic biodegradation of oil, nitrification of ammonia to nitrate, denitrification of nitrate to nitrogen gas, separation of oil using an oilwater separator, and sorption of ammonia to zeolite. Treatment performance results indicated that CWTSs can be designed and built to promote specific environmental and geochemical conditions in order for targeted biogeochemical pathways to operate. The demonstration system successfully achieved consistent removal extents even while inflow concentrations of COCs in the produced water differed by orders of magnitude. Design strategies used in the pilot-scale and demonstration CWTSs to promote specific conditions that can be applied to designing full-scale CWTSs include plant and soil selection, water-depth selection, addition of amendments, and hydraulic retention time (HRT). These strategies allow conditions within a CWTS to be modified to achieve ranges necessary for the preferred biogeochemical treatment pathways. In the case of renovating a produced water containing COCs that require different biogeochemical pathways for treatment, a CWTS can be designed with sequential cells that promote different conditions. For example, the pilot-scale CWTS for post-reverse osmosis produced water was designed to promote oxidizing conditions within the first wetland cell for nitrification of ammonia, and the subsequent three cells were designed to promote reducing conditions for denitrification of nitrate. By incorporating multiple wetland cells in a CWTS, the conditions within each cell can be modified for removal of specific COCs. In addition, a CWTS designed with multiple cells allows for convenient sample collection points so that biogeochemical conditions of individual cells can be monitored and performance evaluated. Removal rate coefficients determined from the pilot-scale CWTS experiments and confirmed by the demonstration system can be used to calculate HRTs required to treat COCs in full-scale CWTSs. The calculated HRTs can then be used to determine the surface area or "footprint" of a full-size CWTS for a given inflow rate of produced water.

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Accumulation of Selenium and Trace Metals on Plant Litter in a Tidal Marsh

Cited by 46 publications

References 42 publications

Comparisons of Macrophyte Breakdown, Associated Plant Chemistry, and Macroinvertebrates in a Wastewater Dominated Stream

Comparisons of Macrophyte Breakdown, Associated Plant Chemistry, and Macroinvertebrates in a Wastewater Dominated Stream

Selenium in aquatic biota inhabiting agricultural drains in the Salton Sea Basin, California

Innovative Water Management Technology to Reduce Environment Impacts of Produced Water

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