Evidence for preferential depths of metal retention in roots of salt marsh plants.

Depth variation (2-cm resolution) of Fe, Mn, Zn, Cr, Ni, Cu, As and Cd concentrations were determined in belowground biomass of Spartina maritima and Sarcocornia fruticosa and in sediments between roots from two marshes in Tagus (Rosário) and Guadiana (Castro Marim) estuaries in Portugal with different anthropogenic pressures. Levels of metals were also determined in aboveground plant parts. Metal concentrations in belowground material were 2-4 orders of magnitude greater than levels in aboveground plant parts providing evidence of weak upward translocation. Although both studied species showed poor extraction of Cr and Ni from sediments, S. fruticosa exhibited a large capability to remove Zn, Cu, As and Cd from contaminated sediments and stabilised them in belowground biomass. Accumulated metals showed a sub-surface concentration maximum or increase to basal roots. To evaluate whether these preferential layers of accumulation resulted from availability in sediments or controlled by plant activity, Enrichment Factors (EF=[Me](root)/[Metal](sediment)) were calculated for each sediment layer. Maximum values in Rosário plant species (Zn=9.3, Cu=18, As=20, Cd=46) exceeded those obtained in Castro Marim (Zn=1.3, Cu=4.3, As=6.1, Cd=18). Moreover, EFs varied with the depth indicating the presence of preferential layers of metal accumulation in roots of both plants, but depth zonation was not the same as in the sediments. These results suggested that levels in belowground biomass either integrated in time changes that occurred in solid sediments and pore water, or metal uptake by roots was not proportional to levels in sediments. The same sequence of metals transferred from sediment to belowground biomass for the two plants was obtained for the two marshes (Cd > As > Cu, Zn), although metals differed from mining ore to industrial/urban sources.