Assessment of Spatial and Temporal Variations of Heavy Metals Levels at Bhal Region of Gulf of Khambat - India

Authors

  • Talekar SD Vasantdada Sugar Institute, Manjari Bk., Pune-412307
  • Joshi AJ Department of Life Sciences, Bhavnagar University, Bhavnagar 364 022, Gujarat, India
  • Pawar US Department of Life Sciences, Bhavnagar University, Bhavnagar 364 022, Gujarat, India
  • Gohel NA Department of Life Sciences, Bhavnagar University, Bhavnagar 364 022, Gujarat, India
  • Naik AA Department of Botany, Pune University, Pune 411 007, Maharashtra, India

Keywords:

Coastal wetland, salt marsh, freshwater, heavy metals

Abstract

Salt marsh areas are recognized as important natural sinks for metals. Bhal region one selected for this investigation can be classified as a 15 km wide coastal wetland comprising of marshy areas towards the Gulf and of either freshwater-salt marsh or freshwater bodies in landward margin of 10 km, which remains flooded during monsoon. Hence in this study attempts were made to evaluate the levels of heavy metals viz., Fe, Cu, Zn, Mn, Ni and Cd of habitats located at such interesting ecoregion. 54 soil samples collected from 18 twin belt transects during monsoon, winter and summer at 6 different coastal locations viz., Mingalpur, Mundi Bridge, Rahtalav, Khoon, Kamatalav and Bhogavo were analyzed by atomic absorption spectrophotometer. Furthermore results obtained were subjected to 2-way ANOVA. From results obtained, it can be said that metal concentrations in soil samples supporting coastal flora in Bhal ecoregion could possibly be arranged in a decreasing order as follows: Fe > Mn > Ni > Zn > Cu > Cd. Also coastal regions of Bhal are comparatively less contaminated by heavy metals than marshy locations of other countries. 2-way ANOVA assessing seasonal variations showed that concentrations of Fe, Mn and Cu in 2 marshy locations varied significantly during monsoon, winter and summer. In contrast, Ni, Zn and Cd did not show such trend of temporal observations for all the 6 selected locations. Furthermore, metal content in soil samples collected from 3 belt transects at each location did not fluctuate significantly, indicating a fact that one may chose any one sample area for any specific type of botanical investigations.

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Published

2014-06-30

How to Cite

Talekar SD, Joshi AJ, Pawar US, Gohel NA, & Naik AA. (2014). Assessment of Spatial and Temporal Variations of Heavy Metals Levels at Bhal Region of Gulf of Khambat - India. International Journal of Life Sciences, 2(3), 249–255. Retrieved from https://ijlsci.in/ls/index.php/home/article/view/1166

Issue

Vol. 2 No. 3 (2014): International Journal of Life Sciences

Section

Research Articles

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