Bioturbation effects on bioaccumulation of cadmium in the wetland plant Typha latifolia: A nature-based experiment

Trung Kien Hoang; Anne Probst; Didier Orange; Franck Gilbert; Arnaud Elger; Jean Kallerhoff; François Laurent; Sabina Bassil; Thi Thuy Duong; Magali Gerino

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.09.237

Bioturbation effects on bioaccumulation of cadmium in the wetland plant Typha latifolia: A nature-based experiment

Sci Total Environ. 2018 Mar 15:618:1284-1297. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.09.237. Epub 2017 Nov 11.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Laboratoire Écologie Fonctionnelle et Environnement (EcoLab), University of Toulouse, UMR5245, CNRS, INPT, UPS, Toulouse, France; Institute of Environmental Technology, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, Hanoi, Viet Nam. Electronic address: kienht@ietvn.vn.
² Laboratoire Écologie Fonctionnelle et Environnement (EcoLab), University of Toulouse, UMR5245, CNRS, INPT, UPS, Toulouse, France.
³ Eco&Sols, University of Montpellier, UMR210-IRD, INRA, CIRAD, Supagro, Montpellier, France; USTH, Vietnam France University, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, Hanoi, Vietnam.
⁴ Toxalim, UMR 1331, INRA, INPT, UPS, Toulouse, France.
⁵ Institute of Environmental Technology, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, Hanoi, Viet Nam; USTH, Vietnam France University, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, Hanoi, Vietnam; Graduate University of Science and Technology, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, Viet Nam.
⁶ Laboratoire Écologie Fonctionnelle et Environnement (EcoLab), University of Toulouse, UMR5245, CNRS, INPT, UPS, Toulouse, France; USTH, Vietnam France University, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, Hanoi, Vietnam. Electronic address: magali.gerino@univ-tlse3.fr.

PMID: 29132718
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.09.237

Abstract

The development of efficient bioremediation techniques to reduce aquatic pollutant load in natural sediment is one of the current challenges in ecological engineering. A nature-based solution for metal bioremediation is proposed through a combination of bioturbation and phytoremediation processes in experimental indoor microcosms. The invertebrates Tubifex tubifex (Oligochaeta Tubificidae) was used as an active ecological engineer for bioturbation enhancement. The riparian plant species Typha latifolia was selected for its efficiency in phyto-accumulating pollutants from sediment. Phytoremediation efficiency was estimated by using cadmium as a conservative pollutant known to bio-accumulate in plants, and initially introduced in the overlying water (20μg Cd/L of cadmium nitrate - Cd(NO₃)₂·4H₂O). Biological sediment reworking by invertebrates' activity was quantified using luminophores (inert particulates). Our results showed that bioturbation caused by tubificid worms' activity followed the bio-conveying transport model with a downward vertical velocity (V) of luminophores ranging from 16.7±4.5 to 18.5±3.9cm·year^-1. The biotransport changed the granulometric properties of the surface sediments, and this natural process was still efficient under cadmium contamination. The highest value of Cd enrichment coefficient for plant roots was observed in subsurface sediment layer (below 1cm to 5cm depth) with tubificids addition. We demonstrated that biotransport changed the distribution of cadmium across the sediment column as well as it enhanced the pumping of this metal from the surface to the anoxic sediment layers, thereby increasing the bioaccumulation of cadmium in the root system of Typha latifolia. This therefore highlights the potential of bioturbation as a tool to be considered in future as integrated bioremediation strategies of metallic polluted sediment in aquatic ecosystems.

Keywords: Bioturbation; Cadmium; Ecological engineering; Phytoremediation; Riparian plants; Sediment.

MeSH terms

Animals
Cadmium / analysis*
Ecosystem
Geologic Sediments
Oligochaeta / physiology*
Typhaceae / chemistry*
Water Pollutants, Chemical / analysis*
Wetlands*

Substances

Water Pollutants, Chemical
Cadmium