Analysis of mercury and other heavy metals accumulated in lichen Usnea antarctica from James Ross Island, Antarctica

Abstract

The study was designed to investigate the content and distribution of selected heavy metals (As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Hg, Mn, Ni, Fe, Pb and Zn) in samples of fruticose macrolichen Usnea antarctica from James Ross Island. A special emphasis was devoted to mercury and its species (elemental mercury and methylmercury). It was found that mercury contents were relatively high (up to 2.73 mg kg(-1) dry weight) compared to other parts of the Antarctic Peninsula region, while the concentrations of most other elements were within reported ranges. Mercury contents in lichens originating from the interior were higher than those from the coast, which is probably the result of local microclimate conditions. Similar trends were observed for Hg(0) and MeHg(+), whose contents were up to 0.14 and 0.098 mg kg(-1) dry weight, respectively. While mercury did not show a significant correlation with any other element, the mutual correlation of some litophile elements probably refers to the influence on thalli of resuspended weathered material. The influence of habitat and environmental conditions could play an essential role in the bioaccumulation of contaminants rather than just the simple presence of sources. Thus, the study of the thalli of this species can bring a new perspective on the interpretation of contaminant accumulation in lichens of the polar region.

Surface mass balance of small glaciers on James Ross Island, north-eastern Antarctic Peninsula, during 2009–2015

“…The snowdrift pattern prevails in the surface mass-balance distribution on both glaciers for the whole investigated period, implying the dominant effect of wind on the snow redistribution and the surface mass-balance pattern. According to recent observations on Ulu Peninsula (Zveřǐna and others, 2014), prevailing south to south-westerly winds play a significant role on redistribution of snow cover at the study area. The same effect was reported from SSI, where the lower accumulation rates on Hurd Glacier compared with Johnsons Glacier were attributed to snow redistribution by wind (Navarro and others, 2013).…”

“…This concerns the observed surface winds and snow cover distribution, which are affected by the orography of the AP and the northern coast of JRI. As shown by Zveřǐna and others (2014), the distribution of snow cover is strongly influenced by prevailing south to south-westerly winds, which promote intense snowdrift and snow accumulation on the lee-side surfaces and in the depressions of the northern JRI. The fact that air temperature on the northern JRI often lies below zero implies that colder and drier conditions with predominance of wind-induced snow redistribution play a major role in the positive surface mass balance of the investigated glaciers.…”

Effect of Snow Cover on the Active‐Layer Thermal Regime – A Case Study from James Ross Island, Antarctic Peninsula

“…The climate of JRI is dominated by the advection of air masses, which are strongly influenced by the position of the AP relative to the circumpolar trough of low pressure (Domack et al , ). A complex orography causes frequent variation between two main advection patterns: (1) cold and dry southerly winds blowing along the eastern coast of the AP, and (2) westerly winds bringing relatively warm maritime air masses across the peninsula to northern JRI (King et al , ; Zvěřina et al , ). The mean annual air temperature (MAAT) at Mendel Station is –6.8°C (2006–11) and the extremes of mean daily air temperatures vary between around 8°C in January and –30°C in July/August (Láska et al , ).…”

Impact of nickel mining in New Caledonia assessed by compositional data analysis of lichens

“…They vary widely, covering 2 or 3 orders of magnitude. Such huge variability is rather unusual in environmental studies dealing with lichens, where differences of one or two orders of magnitude are more common (Goix et al 2013; Zvěřina et al 2014). As expected, the highest Co, Cr and Ni concentrations (above 100, 1000 and 3000 µg g −1 , respectively) are observed in two of the Poro samples (PORO #28 and #32), and close to the Doniambo plant (NOU #16) (Table 2).…”