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Geographical and seasonal variation of trace metal bioavailabilities in the Gulf of Gdansk, Baltic Sea using mussels (Mytilus trossulus) and barnacles (Balanus improvisus) as biomonitors

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Abstract

The barnacle Balanus improvisus and the mussel Mytilus trossulus have been used as biomonitors of the trace metals Cu, Zn, Cd, Fe, Pb, Mn and Ni at five sublittoral sites in the Gulf of Gdansk (Baltic Sea) between February 2000 and September 2001. The study has established a benchmark against which future biomonitoring programmes will be able to establish changes in local metal pollution, particularly if metal loadings in the river Vistula (draining into the Gulf) alter in the future. The study highlighted differences in trace metal bioavailabilities to both barnacles and mussels, geographically and over time. Accumulated metal concentrations of Cu, Zn, Fe, Pb and Ni, but not Cd or Mn, were correlated in the barnacles and mussels, suggesting that the bioavailabilities of the former metals to the two biomonitors were similar. The barnacles showed greater discriminatory power than the mussels as trace metal biomonitors. Concentrations of trace metals in surficial sediments (<63 μm) did not correlate significantly with accumulated metal concentrations in either barnacles or mussels, indicating that sediment metal concentrations are not necessarily good proxy measures of ambient trace metal bioavailabilities to the local coastal filter feeders.

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Acknowledgement

This work was partly supported by internal grant (BW-1320-5-0109-0) to M.W. from the University of Gdansk.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Zoology, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD, UK

    P. S. Rainbow & B. D. Smith

  2. Department of Hydrobiology, Jagiellonian University, ul. Gronostajowa 3, 30-387, Krakow, Poland

    W. Fialkowski

  3. Laboratory of Estuarine Ecology, Institute of Oceanography, University of Gdansk, al. Pilsudskiego 46, 81-378, Gdynia, Poland

    A. Sokolowski & M. Wolowicz

Authors
  1. P. S. Rainbow
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  2. W. Fialkowski
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  3. A. Sokolowski
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  4. B. D. Smith
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  5. M. Wolowicz
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to P. S. Rainbow.

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Communicated by J.P. Thorpe, Port Erin

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Rainbow, P.S., Fialkowski, W., Sokolowski, A. et al. Geographical and seasonal variation of trace metal bioavailabilities in the Gulf of Gdansk, Baltic Sea using mussels (Mytilus trossulus) and barnacles (Balanus improvisus) as biomonitors. Marine Biology 144, 271–286 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-003-1197-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-003-1197-2

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