Influence of marine vertebrates on organic matter, phosphorus and other chemical element levels in Antarctic soils

Souza-Kasprzyk, Juliana; de Castro Paiva, Thais; Convey, Peter ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8497-9903; da Cunha, Larissa Schmauder Teixeira; Soares, Tuany Alves; Zawierucha, Krzysztof; Costa, Erli Schneider; Niedzielski, Przemyslaw; Torres, João Paulo Machado. 2022 Influence of marine vertebrates on organic matter, phosphorus and other chemical element levels in Antarctic soils. Polar Biology. 10, pp. 10.1007/s00300-022-03091-8

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Official URL: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00300-0...

Abstract/Summary

The presence of marine vertebrates in dense reproductive colonies and other aggregations contributes to the input of organic matter and nutrients into the local environment and it is believed that chemical elements are subsequently remobilized from the excreta of these animals. In this study, we investigated the influence of marine vertebrates on trace elements levels (As, Cd, Co, Cu, Fe, Li, Lu, Mg, Mn, Ni, Pb, Sb, Sc, Se, Sm, Sn, Sr, Tb, U and Zn), nutrient (total phosphorus) and soil organic matter (SOM) content from five locations with and without the presence of seabirds and marine mammals in Admiralty Bay, King George Island, South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. Soils were acid digested using a microwave digestion system, elements were quantified using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and SOM was calculated by loss-on-ignition. The non-influenced and vertebrate-influenced soils had similar concentrations of most of the trace elements assessed, however, we observed a significant increase in SOM and P that was positively correlated with the concentrations of As, Cd, Se, Sr and Zn. Although marine vertebrates did not appear to significantly increase the elemental concentrations in the soils examined here, there is a clear evidence of selective enrichment indicating a zoogenic influence. Comparing our results with other studies, we conclude that soil elemental levels are result from an interplay between local geology, vertebrate diet and colony size. Further studies with increased sample size are required to obtain a better understanding of the influence of marine vertebrates on chemical element levels in Antarctic soils.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	10.1007/s00300-022-03091-8
ISSN:	0722-4060
Additional Keywords:	Soil contamination, ornithogenic soils, metals, polar regions
Date made live:	17 Oct 2022 08:22 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/532639

Item Type:

Publication - Article

Digital Object Identifier (DOI):

10.1007/s00300-022-03091-8

ISSN:

0722-4060

Additional Keywords:

Soil contamination, ornithogenic soils, metals, polar regions

Date made live:

17 Oct 2022 08:22 +0 (UTC)

URI:

https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/532639