MethodsX (Dec 2024)

Marine mesocosm system: A reliable tool for testing bioaccumulation and effects of seawater enrichment with dissolved iron in reef organisms

  • Adalto Bianchini,
  • Letícia May Fukushima,
  • Ana Carolina Grillo,
  • Kelly Yumi Inagaki,
  • Juliana de Andrade Souza,
  • Ligia Salgado Bechara,
  • Giovanna Destri,
  • Vitor André Passos Picolotto,
  • Thales Jean Vidal,
  • Alessandra Lopes de Araújo,
  • Juliana da Silva Fonseca,
  • Emiliano Nicolas Calderon,
  • Kely Paula Salvi,
  • Carlos Henrique Figueiredo Lacerda,
  • Patrícia Gomes Costa,
  • Miguel Mies

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 13
p. 102949

Abstract

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In 2015, a marine mesocosm facility was designed and implemented by the Coral Vivo Project in its research station (Porto Seguro, Bahia State, Brazil) to initially study the effects of global impacts, especially ocean warming and acidification, on coral reefs. However, local impacts, including seawater contamination with metal(loid)s, are considered as a major threat to coral reefs. Also, in 2015, the largest disaster involving a mining dam occurred in Brazil. Iron (Fe) mining tailings originated from the dam failure affected not only freshwater ecosystems (rivers, lakes and lagoons), but also adjacent beaches, mangroves, restingas, reefs and other marine systems. Seawater, sediments and biota were contaminated with metal(loid)s, especially Fe, arsenic (As), mercury (Hg) and manganese (Mn). Therefore, we aimed to adapt the marine mesocosm facility of the Coral Vivo Project to evaluate the bioaccumulation and biological impacts of increasing concentrations of dissolved Fe on a diversity of reef organisms. Results obtained indicate a great versatility and reliability of the marine mesocosm system for application in biological and ecological studies on the isolated effect of seawater dissolved Fe on reef organisms of different functional groups simultaneously. • Studies involving seawater enrichment with dissolved Fe can be performed using a marine mesocosm system. • The marine mesocosm is a reliable tool to study the isolated effects of metal(loid)s on reef organisms.

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