Lemna minor L.: As bioindicator of heavy metal pollution in Skadar lake: Montenegro

Abstract

ABSTRACT. The use of aquatic plants to analyze the heavy metal pollution of a lake environment has a number of advantages over the standard chemical methods of the analysis of metal presence in water and sediment. The macrophyta Lemna minor L., sampled from Lake Skadar in Montenegro has been used as a bio-indicator. Floating macrophyte L. minor accumulates metals from water through its submerged roots and floated leaves. The contents of Cd, Cu, Co, Cr, Mn, Ni, Pb, Zn, Sr and V were determined in sediments, water and the plant. The results obtained indicated a very high capacity of L. minor for the accumulation of Mn. In addition, higher Zn concentration was found in root tissue comparing to the sediment. The concentration of the other metals under investigation decreases in the following order: sediment > L. minor (root) > L. minor (leaf) > water. Higher concentrations of all metals in the tissue of L. minor were observed at the end of the growing season. A higher metal content was recorded in the root compared to the leaf. In descending order, the concentrations in plant tissues were found for the following metals: Mn > Zn > Sr > Cu > Ni > Pb > Co > V > Cr > Cd, while the series of bioaccumulation is, in descending order: Mn > Zn > Ni > Co > Pb > Cu > Cr > V > Sr > Cd.

Bioconcentration efficiency of Lemna minor L. and Lemna gibba L. for trace metals in three southeastern Bulgarian water reservoirs

“…Similar results for the order of accumulation concentration of the metals in L. minor have been obtained Kastratović et al (2015) in the study of Skadar Lake. Doganlar et al (2012) investigated the effects of manganese and nickel on L. gibba under laboratory conditions.…”

“…This tendency suggests the different accumulation capacity of macrophytes for certain metals. Plants accumulate certain metals irrespective of their concentrations in the water, which is obviously a characteristic provided by its capacity for the accumulation of each individual element (Kastratović et al 2015).…”

Distribution and Potential Ecological Risk of Heavy Metals in Water, Sediments, and Aquatic Macrophytes: A Case Study of the Junction of Four Rivers in Linyi City, China

“…This may be the main reason for no spatial differences of the BCF values. Kastratović et al observed that BCF of Ni and Sr in Lemna minor from Lake Skadar in Montenegro had no spatial differences [47]. The two plants selectively accumulated heavy metals; while P. crispus accumulated higher levels of Cr, Ni, Cu, and Zn, S. natans showed a high accumulation efficiency for Pb and Zn.…”

Detection of Seasonal Inundations by Satellite Data at Shkoder Urban Area, North Albania for Sustainable Management

“…At the international level, the lake is considered one of the largest European reserves of wading birds and a resting place of migratory birds; for this reason, it was designated an important bird area (IBA) in 1989 [19]. Moreover, since 1996, the Montenegrin portion of the lake was included in the Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance, whereas the remaining Albanian part (dashed yellow line in Figure 1B,C) was added later in 2006 comprising the whole lake [12,20]. Besides, in 2011 the lake was formally nominated for the UNESCO heritage status [12].…”