Investigation of the bioindicator Fucus vesiculosus and its application in biomonitoring programs

The brown alga $\textit{Fucus vesiculosus}$ has been suggested as an indicator of heavy metal pollution in the North Sea coastal water. A wide range of trace elements and metals was determined in $\textit{Fucus vesiculosus}$ using multielement techniques. The good reproducibility of Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA) and confirmation of the obtained results with Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometry (ICP-AES) and Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS)have been used as the fundamental approaches for assuring the accuracy of data presented in this work. $\textit{Fucus vesiculosus}$ was collected from three representative areas, Eckwarderhörne (Weser estuary), Cuxhaven (Elbe estuary), and Sylt-List (less polluted) at bimonthly intervals. After collection the algae were transferred in the gaseous phase of liquid nitrogen to the laboratory. The autecology of the sampled $\textit{Fucus vesiculosus}$, with respect to maximum and minimum growth in February and August respectively, the influence of sampling time and the variation in differently aged tissues of the algae on the accumulation of heavy metals were considered. Samples collected from Eckwarderhörne were used to study the biological variability along the algae bedrock. The relative contribution ratio of the different parts to the whole plant concentration on the fresh wet basis was estimated as well as the relative variability of the element concentrations inEckwarderhörne. Concentration of the differently aged tissues was found to affect the concentration of different elements. The $\textit{General Linear Models procedure}$ was applied in the course of investigating element concentration variational patterns with respect to four factors: collection site, sampling month, sampling year and combination effect adjusted for every other effect. $\textit{Stepwise selection}$ discrimination analysis showed that the elements Ba, Cu, and Co clearly discriminated between the three collection areas. For Eckwarderhörne and Cuxhaven the elements Co, Zn, P, Mg, and Se were considered, for Sylt-List and Cuxhaven, the elements Ba, Cu, Na, and Tb, and for Sylt List and Eckwarderhörne the elements Cu, Cd, As, Se, and Sr. Differences in the accumulation and seasonal variations in 1993 and 1994 were studied by performing $\textit{Principal Component Analysis}$ (PCA). [...