Trace element bioaccumulation in the seagrass Cymodocea nodosa from a polluted coastal lagoon: Biomonitoring implications

The efficiency of trace element uptake by seagrass Cymodocea serrulata in Rabigh lagoon, Red Sea

“…The ability and capacity of C. serrulata to be used as a biomonitor of trace elements determined in this study were evidence with a positive correlation between the trace element concentrations between the three seagrass compartments (Malea and Kevrekidis 2013;Malea et al 2018;Boutahar et al 2021). The high possibility of the mobility of trace elements from sediment to root and to the other compartments might be a probable reason for the significant positive correlation in trace element concentrations between the compartments (Lin et al 2016).…”

“…Ranges of anthropogenic pressure in marine ecosystems, including pollution, alteration of flow regime, overfishing, habitat degradation, and invasion of exotic species, are becoming a major problem to the natural ecosystem (Pallottini et al 2015;Ruiz-Compean et al 2017;Boutahar et al 2021). The rapid urbanization of coastal environments and industrialization have caused the degradation of marine ecosystems and the loss of their resources (Jiang et al 2020;Arisekar et al 2021).…”

“…Naturally, trace elements exist in an environment at a minimal concentration with no significant negative effect on biodiversity (Aljahdali and Alhassan 2020b;Boutahar et al 2021). Trace elements such as Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, and Zn support plant metabolism and are essential micronutrients, while others such as Pb and Cd are very toxic to organisms even in minimal or low concentrations (Malea et al 2019;Goretti et al 2020).…”

“…Trace elements such as Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, and Zn support plant metabolism and are essential micronutrients, while others such as Pb and Cd are very toxic to organisms even in minimal or low concentrations (Malea et al 2019;Goretti et al 2020). However, humans' different management and use of the environment, such as processes in industrialization, has caused the rise in concentrations of trace elements in the natural environment (Aljahdali and Alhassan 2020b;Boutahar et al 2021;Singh et al 2021). This has led to degradation of the marine environment with negative consequences of the well-being of both flora and fauna, and the ecosystem at large (Bonanno and Raccuia 2018), hence the need for assessment and biomonitoring of environmental well-being as an integral aspect of conserving the natural ecosystem (Bonanno et al 2017).…”

“…Cymodocea species are considered potential bioindicators of trace elements pollution due to their prolonged existence and capacity to integrate biophysical and chemical properties (Orlando-Bonaca et al 2015). Furthermore, their direct interaction with seawater column and sediment has led to several interests toward revealing the possibility of a large amount of metal extraction from the environment (Orlando-Bonaca et al 2015;Boutahar et al 2021).…”