Potentials of three plant species, rape, alfalfa and white clover, separately or jointly on the degradation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in soil were estimated by pots experiments. Results showed the presence of vegetation apparently enhanced the dissipation of PAHs at initial concentrations ranging from 20.05 to 322.06 mg·kg-1. Within 70-day experiment, alfalfa and white clover showed higher efficiencies for removal of PAHs than those of rape, and mixed cropping greatly enhanced the dissipation of PAHs as compared to single cropping. On average 74.87% of phenanthrene or 62.81% of pyrene were removed from soils with mixed cropping of rape and alfalfa, and 72.01% of phenanthren or 68.44% of pyrene removed by mixed cropping of rape and white clover. Results suggested a feasibility of the establishment of multispecies remediation for enforcing the dissipation of PAHs.

Potentials of three plant species, rape, alfalfa and white clover, separately or jointly on the degradation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in soil were estimated by pots experiments. Results showed the presence of vegetation apparently enhanced the dissipation of PAHs at initial concentrations ranging from 20.05 to 322.06 mg·kg-1. Within 70-day experiment, alfalfa and white clover showed higher efficiencies for removal of PAHs than those of rape, and mixed cropping greatly enhanced the dissipation of PAHs as compared to single cropping. On average 74.87% of phenanthrene or 62.81% of pyrene were removed from soils with mixed cropping of rape and alfalfa, and 72.01% of phenanthren or 68.44% of pyrene removed by mixed cropping of rape and white clover. Results suggested a feasibility of the establishment of multispecies remediation for enforcing the dissipation of PAHs.

Potentials of three plant species, rape, alfalfa and white clover, separately or jointly on the degradation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in soil were estimated by pots experiments. Results showed the presence of vegetation apparently enhanced the dissipation of PAHs at initial concentrations ranging from 20.05 to 322.06 mg·kg-1. Within 70-day experiment, alfalfa and white clover showed higher efficiencies for removal of PAHs than those of rape, and mixed cropping greatly enhanced the dissipation of PAHs as compared to single cropping. On average 74.87% of phenanthrene or 62.81% of pyrene were removed from soils with mixed cropping of rape and alfalfa, and 72.01% of phenanthren or 68.44% of pyrene removed by mixed cropping of rape and white clover. Results suggested a feasibility of the establishment of multispecies remediation for enforcing the dissipation of PAHs.

Phytoremediation of PAHs in soils at initial contents ranging from 20.05 to 322.06 mg·kg-1 was investigated under different planting patterns, and enhancement mechanisms were analyzed. Results showed that the dissipation of PAHs in soils growing white clover and alfalfa significantly exceeded those vegetating single species. During 70-day experiment, about 75.06% of Phe and 68.22% of Pyr was removed from the soils under mixed cropping; while only 31.8% and 64.03% of Phe and 27.84% and 51.93 of Pyr were removed under single white clover and alfalfa cropping, respectively. Of all pathways enforcing PAHs removal, the plant-microbial interactions is the most predominant. These results suggested a feasibility of the establishment of multi-species phytoremediation for improvement of the remediation efficiencies of PAHs, which may decrease accumulations of PAHs in crops and thus reduce their ecological risks.