Skip to main content

The effect of sulphate on selenium bioaccumulation in two freshwater primary producers and a primary consumer

Date created
2014-12-16
Authors/Contributors
Author: Lo, Bonnie
Abstract
Site-specific conditions (e.g. presence of sulphate), may be linked to the variability in the uptake of selenium in organisms at the base of a food chain, potentially affecting the risk of adverse effects in higher trophic-level organisms. In this project, the effect of sulphate on selenate bioaccumulation in two primary producers (Lemna minor and Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata) and a primary consumer (Daphnia magna) was explored. When exposed to selenate, all three species exhibited a decrease in selenium tissue concentration with increasing sulphate. When D. magna were exposed to sulphate and dietary selenium, sulphate did not affect selenium tissue concentrations. The results were used to develop equations estimating selenium tissue concentrations when exposed to selenate and sulphate. The strong predictive ability of the equations suggests that selenate, sulphate, and dietary selenium (applicable to D. magna) are important for describing the relationship between selenate and selenium tissue concentrations.
Document
Identifier
etd8812
Copyright statement
Copyright is held by the author.
Permissions
The author has not granted permission for the file to be printed nor for the text to be copied and pasted. If you would like a printable copy of this thesis, please contact summit-permissions@sfu.ca.
Scholarly level
Member of collection
Download file Size
etd8812_BLo.pdf 1.29 MB

Views & downloads - as of June 2023

Views: 13
Downloads: 0