Growth dilution of metals in microalgal biofilms

Despite the key role microalgae play in introducing toxicants into aquatic food webs, little is known about the effects of environmental factors on metal accumulation by these primary producers. Environmental factors such as light and nutrients alter growth rates and may consequently influence metal concentrations in microalgae through growth dilution. Laboratory experiments suggested that metal uptake and elimination by microalgal biofilms were gradual enough to enable dilution of metals within the biofilms by photosynthetically accrued carbon, and a simple kinetic model of metal accumulation predicted significant variation in metal content due to growth dilution over the natural range of microalgal growth rates. The ratio of metal uptake to carbon uptake by microalgal biofilms decreased exponentially with increasing light in short-term laboratory experiments because photosynthesis was much more sensitive to a light gradient than was metal uptake. The effect of light on biofilm metal concentrations was confirmed in situ with a long-term experiment in which experimental shading of biofilms in a metal-contaminated stream decreased biofilm growth rates and caused a 3x increase in biofilm concentrations of twelve metals, including methylmercury. Slow growth at the primary producer level is a likely contributor to higher biotic metal concentrations in shaded, oligotrophic, or cold ecosystems.