Abstract
To test whether the values of δ13C in mangrove plants are affected by Cd application, the seedlings of Aegiceras corniculatum, a dominant mangrove species, were cultured in soil supplied with CdCl2 solution at the concentration of 0, 0.5, 2.5, 5, 20, 30 and 50 CdCl2 mg/kg wet soils. Plants were grown in 10 replicate pots with 5 propagules each. After 5 months of Cd exposure, three pots contained 15 seedlings with average shoot heights were selected for each treatment. Leaves and roots of seedling were sampled respectively and analyzed for δ13C. Growth traits (fresh weight, shoot height and root length), total chlorophyll content, and Cd concentrations in leaf, root and dry soil were determined. After 5 months of the seedling growth, the concentrations of Cd in dry soil were 0.47, 0.83, 2.77, 4.54, 18.89, 29.79 and 47.35 mg/kg respectively. The values of δ13C in roots and leaves were affected to some extent by Cd application. Although root δ13C showed more sensitive to Cd compared with leaves, the values of δ13C in roots were not significantly affected by Cd until Cd level higher than 29.78 mg/kg which was not expected to exist in natural environments. Minor variation in δ13C values observed in roots and leaves was likely due to limited Cd uptake by seedlings and subsequent lack of negative impacts on photosynthesis.
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Acknowledgments
This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 30470301, 30530150, 40673064 and 30710103908) and Program for Ecological Innovative Research Team of Xiamen University. The authors greatly appreciate Dr Weiss from Department of Earth Science & Engineering, Imperial College London for providing much appreciated and constructive reviews of earlier versions of this manuscript. We would like to thank the staff of the Laboratory for Stable Isotope Geochemistry of the Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences for carbon isotope ratio analysis.
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Wei, L., Yan, C., Wu, G. et al. Variation of δ13C in Aegiceras corniculatum seedling induced by cadmium application. Ecotoxicology 17, 480–484 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10646-008-0201-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10646-008-0201-5