DISTRIBUTION OF ZINC IN SEPANG MANGROVE FOREST ENVIRONMENT, MALAYSIA

Abstract

Sepand mangrove forest ecosystem in Malaysia has become environmentally sensitive due to untreated waste disposal from several oil palm industries, pig farms, and sewage into the Sepand Besar mangrove river. Very high zinc concentrations were found throughout the study area. High concentrations of zinc were also found in soil (1192.20 g/g) and river water (11.18 mg/l) at the waste discharge point. Among the seedling (Rhizophora mucronata) parts, roots contained the highest (67.33 g/g) zinc concentration, followed by stems and leaves. Results of this study indicated that mangrove plants are adapted to high metal concentrations in soil.