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Trace and major elements distribution in coastal sediment cores from Lagos Lagoon, Nigeria.

ABSTRACT: Heavy metals contamination in aquatic ecosystems has been a major concern, however, no information is available about the concentrations, depth distributions and ecological risks of heavy metals in sediments cores from microtidal lagoonal ecosystem in Lagos, Nigeria. Four sediment cores were collected using a 50?cm?×?3.5?cm Wildco® hand corer. Elemental determinations were carried out using the Microwave Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometry (4200 MP-AES) after extraction. The concentrations of heavy metals in the sediment cores indicated enhanced degree of contamination influenced by anthropogenic discharges especially industrial effluents. Vertical depth distributions indicated varied depositional periods largely controlled by increasing anthropogenic land-based activities. The remarkable metal pollution of core sediments raises the concern potential sources of metals to the lagoonal ecosystem and ecological risks to the biota, humans, and the environment. The results of elemental concentrations should be considered as baseline data for heavy metals in sediments in the region.

SUBMITTER: Ekett SI

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5993007 | biostudies-other | 2018 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Trace and major elements distribution in coastal sediment cores from Lagos Lagoon, Nigeria.

Ekett Simeon I SI Fred-Ahmadu Omowunmi H OH Adedapo Adebusayo E AE Benson Nsikak U NU

Data in brief 20180519

Heavy metals contamination in aquatic ecosystems has been a major concern, however, no information is available about the concentrations, depth distributions and ecological risks of heavy metals in sediments cores from microtidal lagoonal ecosystem in Lagos, Nigeria. Four sediment cores were collected using a 50 cm × 3.5 cm Wildco® hand corer. Elemental determinations were carried out using the Microwave Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometry (4200 MP-AES) after extraction. The concentrations of he ...[more]

PMID: 29892622

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Project description:Lagos Lagoon is among Africa's largest estuarine ecosystems, bordered by one of the fastest growing megacities in the world and the ultimate repository of contaminants carried in industrial, municipal and agricultural wastes. The high levels of pollutants have progressively deteriorated the water quality, adversely affected lagoon ecosystems, impacted the livelihood of the coastal population and pose serious risks to human health. Benthic foraminifera are excellent proxies and sensitive bioindicators of environmental disturbances but comprehensive studies on the structure, distribution, diversity and impact of pollution upon foraminiferal communities have not yet been conducted in the Lagos Lagoon. To demonstrate the potential of foraminifera as proxies of environmental perturbations, benthic foraminifera were investigated on a lagoon-wide basis. Lagos Lagoon comprises areas that range from low levels of direct impact to those of severely affected by various forms of anthropogenic disturbance. The goals of this study are to analyze patterns of distribution and species richness, to document foraminiferal community structures, and to identify taxa that track documented records of pollution in Lagos Lagoon sediments. Heat maps were generated from abundance records for selected species to illustrate environmental preferences and relative resistance levels to individual forms of anthropogenic disturbance. Sediments were analyzed for a range of physicochemical properties, via a multi-parameter sensor probe-device, including temperature, pH, depth and total dissolved solids (TDS). Quantitative analysis of 24 sediment samples yielded a total 3872 individuals of benthic foraminifera that belong to 42 species and 25 genera. They comprise 10 porcellaneous, 22 hyaline perforate and 10 agglutinated species. Ammobaculites exiguus, Ammotium salsum, Ammonia aoteana, Ammonia convexa and Trochammina sp. 1 have been found to be the most abundant species. For the first time, the complete present-day foraminifera fauna is illustrated here via scanning electron microscopy. The features recorded allow to assess the spatial effects of pollution upon foraminiferal assemblages on a lagoon-wide basis. The data generated may ultimately form the basis to assess the progressive deterioration of Lagos Lagoon ecosystems from cores by using benthic foraminifera as bioindicators of environmental perturbation.

Project description:Estuarine sediments are significant repositories of anthropogenic contaminants, and thus knowledge of the impacts of pollution upon microbial communities in these environments is important to understand potential effects on estuaries as a whole. The Lagos lagoon (Nigeria) is one of Africa's largest estuarine ecosystems, and is impacted by hydrocarbon pollutants and other industrial and municipal wastes. The goal of this study was to elucidate microbial community structure in Lagos lagoon sediments to identify groups that may be adversely affected by pollution, and those that may serve as degraders of environmental contaminants, especially polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Sediment samples were collected from sites that ranged in types and levels of anthropogenic impacts. The sediments were characterized for a range of physicochemical properties, and microbial community structure was determined by Illumina sequencing of the 16S rRNA genes. Microbial diversity (species richness and evenness) in the Apapa and Eledu sediments was reduced compared to that of the Ofin site, and communities of both of the former two were dominated by a single operational taxonomic unit (OTU) assigned to the family Helicobacteraceae (Epsilonproteobacteria). In the Ofin community, Epsilonproteobacteria were minor constituents, while the major groups were Cyanobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Firmicutes, which were all minor in the Apapa and Eledu sediments. Sediment oxygen demand (SOD), a broad indicator of contamination, was identified by multivariate analyses as strongly correlated with variation in alpha diversity. Environmental variables that explained beta diversity patterns included SOD, as well as levels of naphthalene, acenaphthylene, cobalt, cadmium, total organic matter, or nitrate. Of 582 OTU identified, abundance of 167 was significantly correlated (false discovery rate q? 0.05) to environmental variables. The largest group of OTU correlated with PAH levels were PAH/hydrocarbon-degrading genera of the Oceanospirillales order (Gammaproteobacteria), which were most abundant in the hydrocarbon-contaminated Apapa sediment. Similar Oceanospirillales taxa are responsive to marine oil spills and thus may present a unifying theme in marine microbiology as bacteria adapted for degradation of high hydrocarbon loads, and may represent a potential means for intrinsic remediation in the case of the Lagos lagoon sediments.

Dataset Information

Trace and major elements distribution in coastal sediment cores from Lagos Lagoon, Nigeria.

Publications

Trace and major elements distribution in coastal sediment cores from Lagos Lagoon, Nigeria.

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