Concentration and distribution of copper and cadmium in water, sediments, detritus, plants and animals in a hardwater lowland river

Abstract

The concentration and distribution of copper (Cu) and cadmium (Cd) were examined in water, sediments, detritus, plants and animals in a small, lowland, hardwater river. Consistently higher concentrations of Cu and Cd were found in all types of samples from two sites. There were marked variations in metal concentrations between different types of samples, and between seasons. Copper and Cd were mainly concentrated in sediments, organic detritus and biota, while concentrations in water were three orders of magnitude lower than in the other components in the system. The relatively high concentrations of Cu and Cd in biota suggests that they provide an important pathway for metal transport through the food web in this particular hardwater river. From the rank order of concentrations it appears that sticklebacks exert a greater degree of control than invertebrates in the uptake and elimination of Cu and Cd. © 1996 Kluwer Academic Publishers.