COMPARING THE EFFECTS OF CHEMICAL ELEMENTS IN FRESHWATER SOIL AND WETLAND SOIL

Nutrients and metals at some extent are essential for plants. Nutrients can help with plant growth, plant metabolism and in their external supply. Certain heavy metals are necessary for the growth and upkeep plants. However, excessive amounts of certain metals can become toxic to plants. Furthermore, humans are often carriers of contaminants such as nutrients and heavy metals. Human activities can bring these into different ecosystems and alter their structure and function. Therefore, this study explored two different ecosystems: the freshwater ecosystem and the salt marsh ecosystem. The metals including Cu, Zn, Fe and RCRA (Resource Recovery and Conservation Act) metals (Pb, Se, As, Ba, Hg, Cr, Cd, Ag) were investigated in the soils collected from two different environments. Particularly RCRA metals can be extremely toxic even at small concentrations. Consequently, concentrations of these eight metals are highly regulated. Cu, Zn, and Fe are important to many processes in plants. However, if occur at high concentration they are detrimental to the growth of plants. In this study, the concentration of metals were found to be higher in freshwater lake soil compared to saltwater marsh soil. Soil nutrients including phosphorus, nitrogen, and potassium were also examined in both environments. These nutrients play significant roles in plant chemical processes and functions. This study shows that the nutrients level is consistently higher in saltmarsh soil than the freshwater park soil. Physical parameters including soil color, moisture content and pH were examined using LaMotte method and Munsell color charts to assess the general characteristics of the soil. This preliminary data shows the clear distinction between two environments and warrant further study to see the spatial and temporal variation.