Pelagic Sargassum events in Jamaica: Provenance, morphotype abundance, and influence of sample processing on biochemical composition of the biomass

Machado, Carla Botelho; Maddix, Gina-Marie; Francis, Patrice; Thomas, Shanna-Lee; Burton, J. H.; Langer, Swen; Larson, Tony R.; Marsh, Robert; Webber, Mona K.; Tonon, Thierry

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.152761

Cited by 27 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 66 publications

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“…The most abundant fatty acids were the palmitic and oleic acids from our analysis, and this was similar to previous reports [5,12] (Table 4). Saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids accounted for at least 50% of the fatty acids identified.…”

Section: Fatty Acidssupporting

confidence: 93%

“…Various processing techniques and applications have been suggested, from anaerobic digestion, plastic production and construction materials to liquefaction and pyrolysis, as well as higher value applications in food extracts, cosmeceuticals and nutraceuticals [4,[6][7][8]. Variability in biomass quantity, quality and location creates substantial uncertainty during the development of reliable and robust industrial processes [9][10][11][12]. Comprising at least three similar-looking morphotypes of Sargassum, the free-floating populations that invade the Caribbean region include Sargassum fluitans III, Sargassum natans I and Sargassum natans VIII, in varying abundance [5,10,12]; any industrial process that relied upon sorting and distinguishing between types would be unpractical, difficult, and to all intents and purposes, pointless, unless the returns on investment (i.e., value of the product) were suitably large.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Variability in biomass quantity, quality and location creates substantial uncertainty during the development of reliable and robust industrial processes [9][10][11][12]. Comprising at least three similar-looking morphotypes of Sargassum, the free-floating populations that invade the Caribbean region include Sargassum fluitans III, Sargassum natans I and Sargassum natans VIII, in varying abundance [5,10,12]; any industrial process that relied upon sorting and distinguishing between types would be unpractical, difficult, and to all intents and purposes, pointless, unless the returns on investment (i.e., value of the product) were suitably large. Whilst oceanic currents reliably and consistently deliver biomass to the Caribbean over massive regions and long seasons on a geological scale, the precise timings and locales impacted are subject to considerable variation [13].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Biochemical and Elemental Composition of Pelagic Sargassum Biomass Harvested across the Caribbean

et al. 2022

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Massive and recurrent strandings of pelagic Sargassum biomass have become the new norm in the Caribbean and the Western Africa since 2011, and there is no sign of this abating. These Sargassum events have negative environmental, socioeconomic and health impacts in the affected countries. In the meantime, various processing techniques and applications have been suggested for valorisation of this biomass. However, variability in quantity, quality and location creates substantial uncertainty for the development of reliable and robust industrial processes. As part of ongoing efforts to better characterise seasonal and geographical variations in the biochemical and elemental composition of the pelagic Sargassum biomass across the Caribbean, we analysed samples from Mexico, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic harvested during summer 2020 and winter 2021. Different degrees of variation were observed in the contents of ash, metals and metalloids, vitamins, fatty acids, amino acids and biogenic amines, and monosaccharides. Our results indicate that biomass is of highly variable quality depending on season and location. In this context, we suggest that biorefinery approaches geared towards controlled metal removal and focused on the extraction and purification of amino acids, fatty acids and vitamins should be prioritised to assess the potential valorisation of pelagic Sargassum biomass into standardised and high-value outputs.

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Section: Fatty Acidssupporting

confidence: 93%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Biochemical and Elemental Composition of Pelagic Sargassum Biomass Harvested across the Caribbean

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“…Large floating mats of pelagic sargassum seaweed, comprising Sargassum natans I, S. natans VIII, and S. fluitans III (Schell et al, 2015), have been inundating shorelines across the Caribbean since 2011 (Wang et al, 2019). There is evidence that these annual blooms will continue into the foreseeable future, becoming the "new normal" (Wang et al, 2019;Salter et al, 2020;Machado et al, 2022). Although widely considered a nuisance (van Tussenbroek et al, 2017), many have come to regard the algal biomass as a resource (Milledge and Harvey, 2016;Chávez et al, 2020;Amador-Castro et al, 2021) with a plethora of projects exploring uses, which include soil amelioration (Desrochers et al, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Care was taken to ensure that the collected material was free of beach sand. The Sargassum spp., which is consistently comprised of a mix of S. fluitans III, S. natans I, and S. natans VIII (Schell et al, 2015;Machado et al, 2022) in descending order of biomass, was placed in large black plastic bags which were stored unsecured (allowing air through but not rainwater) in an earthen pit for 3 months. The material was periodically 'turned' to effect mixing.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Application of Stranded Pelagic Sargassum Biomass as Compost for Seedling Production in the Context of Mangrove Restoration

Trench¹,

Thomas²,

Thorney³

et al. 2022

Front. Environ. Sci.

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The Sargassum spp. inundations across the Atlantic and Caribbean that began in 2011 have continued unabated, and new uses for the biomass are being continuously explored. Mangroves protect shorelines, store carbon, enhance water quality, and promote biodiversity. Their restoration can be hindered by poor soils associated with urbanized coastlines. Sargassum spp. application in the form of mulch, compost, and plant tonics has yielded positive results in a range of plants. As part of transforming the inundations to benefit communities, Sargassum spp. compost (SC) was assessed in mangrove seedling production for restoration. Pure SC was mixed with soil/sand medium, as different treatments, for the production of Rhizophora mangle seedlings in “wet” and “dry” nurseries. Plants in the “wet” nursery performed poorly, with 90–100% of plants in 50 and 100% SC, respectively, dying after 6 weeks. Seedlings in all SC treatments in the “dry” nursery survived with obvious and statistically significant treatment differences. Height and number of leaves indicated the best growth in the 75% SC treatment, while the control (0% SC) had the poorest growth. Seedling health, greatest in the control, was poorest in 50 and 100% SC. Elemental analysis of SC, seedlings, and soil/sand medium indicated that several elements (Na, K, Ca, As, and Se) found in high concentrations in the SC were low in the plants. Overall, low sequestration of elements by mangrove seedlings and the reported ability of mangrove soils to reduce element mobilization through chelation indicate the potential use of Sargassum spp. in soil amelioration for mangrove restoration without proportional contamination of the ecosystem. We see the potential use of nuisance Sargassum spp. blooms to support mangrove restoration, leading to increased benefits to coastal communities being affected by the inundations.

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Potential application of pelagic Sargassum spp. in animal feeding

et al. 2022

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Pelagic Sargassum events in Jamaica: Provenance, morphotype abundance, and influence of sample processing on biochemical composition of the biomass

Cited by 27 publications

References 66 publications

Biochemical and Elemental Composition of Pelagic Sargassum Biomass Harvested across the Caribbean

Biochemical and Elemental Composition of Pelagic Sargassum Biomass Harvested across the Caribbean

Application of Stranded Pelagic Sargassum Biomass as Compost for Seedling Production in the Context of Mangrove Restoration

Potential application of pelagic Sargassum spp. in animal feeding

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