Spanish researchers have studied the chemical composition of the marine plant Posidonia oceanica to determine changes in pollution of the Mediterranean in the last 30 years.
Antonio Tovar-Sanchez, lead author and researcher in the Department of Global Change Research at the Mediterranean Institute of Advanced Studies (CSIC-UIB), claims in science news portal SINC that the Posidonia is "capable of reflecting the different degrees local and regional pollution "of our sea, to identify the metals deposited in the Mediterranean for several decades.
The Posidionia can live for several decades and stored grow metals (nutrients and toxic) in their tissues. "Thus, a Posidonia 30 or 40 years of age provides us with information of the last three or four decades," said Tovar-Sanchez.
The CSIC team has done a complete collection of more than 50 oceanic Posidonia Balearic archipelago. The analysis of metal concentrations in Posidonia oceanica has been published in the Journal of Geophysical Research-Biogeosciences shows the index of aluminum, cadmium, copper and silver, among others, present in the Mediterranean.
The study has led to a temporary record of historical environmental changes on a large scale, key to addressing climate change in general.
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