Effects of species richness on cadmium removal efficiencies of algal microcosms.
Abstract
An important factor limiting the wider application of constructed ecosystems for bioremediation of sites contaminated by toxic chemicals is their relatively low efficiency of contaminant removal. Although there is growing evidence that species-rich ecosystems may out-perform species-poor ecosystems in removing excessive nutrients from water through niche partitioning, it remains unknown whether diverse ecosystems are more efficient in removing toxic chemicals from the environment, and if they are, by what mechanisms diverse ecosystems can lead to enhanced removals. In this study, we exposed aquatic algal microcosm ecosystems of varying species richness to a realistic cadmium (Cd) contamination scenario. We explore the mechanisms of Cd removal by assemblages with differing diversity and consider the potential role of diversity on Cd bioremediation. Our results suggest that Cd removal efficiencies of the algal microcosms increased with species richness. Furthermore, we found that 45% of all polycultures out-performed the monocultures of their most efficient component species in removing Cd from the growth substrates (referred as to 'over Cd removal'). However, the average Cd removal efficiency of the most diverse (eight-species) polycultures was not higher than that of the most efficient monoculture (i.e. the algal species most tolerant to Cd) in this study. We also showed that the observed over Cd removal could be largely ascribed to the enhanced biomass yields of the polycultures, which were mainly driven by the positive effects of Cd-tolerant species on Cd-sensitive species. Synthesis and applications. This study demonstrates that some algal polycultures containing both Cd-tolerant and Cd-sensitive species may show over Cd removal through facilitation provided by Cd-tolerant species. These polycultures are likely to be assembled and applied to achieve Cd removals higher than those of their most efficient component species in monoculture. Given that species-rich ecosystems tend to be more environmentally stable than ones with fewer species, it would be prudent to employ diverse polycultures rather than risk the loss of individual monocultures.