Abstract
Clearwater Mesa is a pristine area located SE of Croft Bay in James Ross Island, at the northeast of the Antarctic Peninsula. The closest anthropic construction is the summer Mendel station located 25 km to the NE. Clearwater is a remote basalt volcanic mesa, (64° 01′ S, 57° 42′ W) located at ~ 250 m a.s.l., with around 50 small shallow lakes, a well-developed lichens flora and scarce fauna. The mesa offers a good opportunity to use lichens, like Usnea antarctica, as a biomonitor species. The aim of this study was to determine the baseline levels of trace elements in Usnea antarctica and their relationships with geographical parameters and climatological aspects, to use them as reference levels in futures studies. Usnea antarctica was collected in 23 sites in two transects: perpendicular and parallel to the shore. We found high contents of the elements associated with long-distance transport like Sm, La, Sc, Fe, Co, Hg, and Ca. The elements linked to the marine biogenic cycle as Sr, Rb, Cs, K, Na, Sb, As, Se, and Br were less significant. The distance to the sea was the factor that related the element contents. Hg, Se, As, and Br content in Usnea antarctica increased from the inland towards the sea coast.
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Acknowledgments
We thank the Dirección Nacional del Antártico, Instituto Antártico Argentino, PROANTAR (Programa Antártico Brasileiro), for their assistance on field trips, and also, the authors would like to recognize the RA-6 reactor staff, Centro Atómico Bariloche, CNEA, Argentina, for the irradiation of the samples. The authors would also like to thank Silvia H. Coria and Matej Roman for their great help in the field, to the two anonymous reviewers for constructive comments on the manuscript, and also to Matej Roman for the photomosaic used in Fig. 1a.
Funding
M.J. Kitaura and M.C. Scur are grateful to Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior – Brazil (CAPES) – Finance Code 001, which financed part of this study and scholarships, and to the Evolution and Dispersal of Antarctic Bipolar Species of Mosses and Lichens project (MCTI/CNPq).
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Catán, S.P., Bubach, D., Arribere, M. et al. Trace elements baseline levels in Usnea antarctica from Clearwater Mesa, James Ross Island, Antarctica. Environ Monit Assess 192, 246 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-020-8212-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-020-8212-7