Mercury enrichment in Brassica napus in response to elevated atmospheric mercury concentrations

Abstract

Mercury enrichment in response to elevated atmospheric mercury concentrations in the organs of rape (Brassica napus) was investigated.

Elevated soil mercury content had significant impact on mercury accumulation in rape stems, roots, seeds and seed coats.

Leaf mercury in the leaves was mostly affected by atmospheric input while the stems were mostly affected by soil concentrations.

Mercury in the aboveground plant tissue mainly derived from atmospheric absorption, and atmospheric mercury absorption in leaves was higher than that in the stems.

Mercury enrichment in response to elevated atmospheric mercury concentrations in the organs of rape (Brassica napus) was investigated using an open top chamber fumigation experiment and a soil mercury enriched cultivation experiment. Results indicate that the mercury concentration in leaves and stems showed a significant variation under different concentrations of mercury in atmospheric and soil experiments while the concentration of mercury in roots, seeds and seed coats showed no significant variation under different atmospheric mercury concentrations. Using the function relation established by the experiment, results for atmospheric mercury sources in rape field biomass showed that atmospheric sources accounted for at least 81.81% of mercury in rape leaves and 32.29% of mercury in the stems. Therefore, mercury in the aboveground biomass predominantly derives from the absorption of atmospheric mercury.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

Open top chamber / Gaseous elemental mercury (GEM) / Soil Mercury / Brassica napus

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 41373124, 41073092 and 41371461).

Funding

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

2017 Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg