Phytoremediation potential of Phalaris arundinacea, Salix viminalis and Zea mays for nickel-contaminated soils

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of Phalaris arundinacea, Salix viminalis and Zea mays to the phytoremediation of the soil contaminated with nickel. A 2-year microplot experiment was carried out with plants growing on Ni-contaminated soil. Microplots (1 m 2 × 1 m deep) were filled with Haplic Luvisols soil. Simulated soil contamination with Ni was introduced in the following doses: 0-no metals, Ni 1 -60, Ni 2 -100 and Ni 3 -240 mg kg −1 . The phytoremediation potential of plants was evaluated using a tolerance index, bioaccumulation factor, and translocation factor. None of the tested plants was a species with high Ni phytoremediation potential. All of them demonstrated a total lack of usefulness for phytoextraction; however, they can be in some way useful for phytostabilization. Z. mays accumulated large amounts of Ni in the roots, which made it useful for phytostabilization, but, at the same time, showed little tolerance to this metal. For this reason, it can be successfully used only on soils medium-contaminated with Ni, where a large yield decrease did not occur. Its biomass may be safely used as cattle feed, as the Ni transfer from roots to shoots was strongly restricted. P. arundinacea and S. viminalis accumulated too little Ni in the roots to be considered as typical phytostabilization plants. However, they may be helpful for phytostabilization due to their high tolerance to Ni. These plants can grow in the soil contaminated with Ni, acting as a protection against soil erosion or the spread of contamination.

Content of Zn, Cd and Pb in purple moor-grass in soils heavily contaminated with heavy metals around a zinc and lead ore tailing landfill

“…Detailed studies on the uptake of metals from the soil by plants and their translocation into the aboveground part allow to determine the ability of particular plant species to accumulate metals, and thus to identify them as potential contaminant indicators or phytoremediation agents [34,36,37]. According to Ogunkunle et al [38], Ghosh and Singh [39], Korzeniowska and Stanislawska-Glubiak [40], the translocation (TF) and bioaccumulation (BCF) factors are key parameters for assessing the ability of plants to hyperaccumulate elements and determine their availability in the environment. The adaptive and phytoremediation potentials of plants very widely and depend among other things on plant species and the type of contaminants [8,34].…”

24-Epibrassinolide mitigates nickel toxicity in young Eucalyptus urophylla S.T. Blake plants: nutritional, physiological, biochemical, anatomical and morphological responses

“…Nickel (Ni) is one of the heavy metals most frequently found in the environment (Ashraf et al 2011;Vázquez et al 2013;Hussain et al 2013), and high Ni concentrations have been described in ultramafic soils or polluted soils, with occurrence also in Brazil (Reeves et al 2007). In Brazil, areas with ultramafic soils have been used Eucalyptus during phytoremediation process and consequent Ni extraction from soil, because this gender presents higher tolerance to heavy metals, comparing with other species (Gomes et al 2012;Korzeniowska and Stanislawska-Glubiak 2019). The causes of environmental contamination provoked by Ni can be natural or anthropogenic (Harasim and Filipek 2015), natural causes include mainly the weathering of ultrabasic igneous rocks (Yusuf et al 2011b), while anthropogenic causes include an intensification of industrialisation processes and urbanization (Nagajyoti et al 2010).…”

The potential of Blepharidium guatemalense for nickel agromining in Mexico and Central America

“…metal regulation in plants) and practical application. Indeed, metal hyperaccumulator plants can be used as indicators of metals in soils for geochemical prospecting (Baker and Brooks, 1988;Nkoane et al, 2005) and for phytoremediation (Baker and Brooks, 1988;Atma et al, 2017;Sidhu et al, 2018a;Korzeniowska and Stanislawska-Glubiak, 2019;Sidhu et al, 2020). Phytoremediation is a family of plant-based technologies to deal with environmental aspects of sites that requires remediation, including phytostabilization (metals are transformed into non phyto/bioavailable forms), phytoextraction (metals are removed from the soil by plants), and phytomining (metals are removed from soils and recovered from the plant biomass) (Chaney and Baklanov, 2017).…”