Element Pattern in Two Dominant Species of Seaweed from Betsukari Coastline - Mashike, Hokkaido, Japan.

The present study investigated the monthly of element accumulation in seaweeds. Patterns of As, Ba, Cd, Cu, Fe, Mn, Pb, and Zn concentrations in dominant species of Phaeophyceae and Rhodophyceae, namely Saccharina japonica and Pterocladiella tenuis respectively, collected from the Betsukari coastline-Mashike, Hokkaido, Japan, were investigated. Our results indicated that element accumulation was more related to specific seaweed species than to their supply in seawater concentration. S. japonica was found to be an accumulator of As, whereas P. tenuis notably accumulated Mn. The accumulation of specific elements also affects the coupled patterns between closely related elements. The monthly pattern of Cd was similar to that of As in S. japonica, and it is an element with unknown biological function in the seaweed. The monthly accumulation pattern of Fe and Mn, a well-known closely related element that forms the extracellular surface in seaweed, was found to be similar in P. tenuis. A similar transport mechanism affected the antagonistic pattern of Cd and Zn accumulation in S. japonica. Our data can be employed in the assessment of biomonitoring of element cycles in the environment.