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Mangrove Research Group
Red Sea Mangrove Ecosystem Research Group
The Red Sea Mangrove Ecosystem Research Group will be domiciled at , Biological Sciences Department,
King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia as a leading provider of information on the impact assessment
of the Red Sea mangrove ecosystem Mangrove ecosystems are some of the most productive and important sinks
for sediment; however, there has been an increasing interest in the status of mangroves in terms of nutrients
dynamics and contamination by pollutants such as metals. Nutrient dynamics and contamination of mangroves
with pollutants are well linked to different anthropogenic activities. A comprehensive study will be carried
out across several mangrove ecosystems in the Red Sea, Saudi Arabia. The important aspects of the study
will be to determine (i) different stress drivers such as nutrient limitation and physicochemical parameters
of the mangrove ecosystem such as salinity, temperature, DO, among others (ii) influence of anthropogenic
activities on trace elements and rare earth elements, and if trace elements concentrations are above the sediment
quality guidelines (iii) metal bioaccumulation in mangrove Avicennia marina and antioxidant enzyme activities
as biomarkers of oxidative stress (iv) fractionation and distribution of rare earth elements in the sediment of
mangrove ecosystems. Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope will be determined using Thermo elemental analyzer–ConFlo
IV–Delta V Advantage mass spectrometer, while nitrogen and carbon in sediment and mangroves will be determine
using Semimicro-Kjeldahl and K2Cr2O7/H2SO4 oxidation method. Agilent 7700x dual pump Inductively Coupled
Plasma-Mass Spectrometer (ICP-MS) will be used for trace and rare earth elements determination, while oxidative
stress will be determined using standard methods for determination of antioxidants in biosystems. Analysis of variance
(ANOVA) and principal component analysis will be used to determine the variation in different parameters across the
mangrove ecosystems and the influence of stress on antioxidant enzyme activities in Avicennia marina
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