ABSTRACT
Despite their high potential toxicity most of contaminated marine environment, present a diverse flora apparently tolerant to high levels of contaminants. The study of these resistant floras, their detoxification capacities and immobilization or absorption could constitute an interesting tool, not only to estimate the risks of potential transfer within the aquatic ecosystem but also as rehabilitation tool. The ability of some algae and aquatic plants to tolerate or even to accumulate pollutions has opened new avenues of research on the treatment of waters and aquatic environments, whose purpose is phytoremediation. This arises as a cheap and eco-friendly technique a group of technologies that use plants to reduce, remove, degrade or immobilize environmental contaminants. However, the choice of plant species adapted to the environmental conditions imposed requires knowledge of the mechanisms involved in the processes of pollution control and the parameters controlling their performance.
This chapter provides an overview of the origin of organic and inorganic pollutants in marine ecosystems and discusses the different mechanisms and strategy implemented by algae and seagrasses to tolerate pollution and the last applications in polluted ecosystem rehabilitation.
