Abstract
Many sites inside a protected area in Apulia region (Italy) have been contaminated with heavy metals (Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn) because an inadequate disposal of a variety of wastes with different sources of origin. As first measure in-situ phytoremediation techniques were evaluated using only the natural plants that grew wildly on the contaminated soils, in order to minimize the environmental impact on this fragile ecosystem. Total contents of metals in soils generally exceeded the maximum levels indicated in Italian and European regulations, specially Cr and Zn. Although the extractable fraction was element-dependent, the metal immobilization was enhanced by the components of soils. Maximum mobilizable fractions (%DTPA of total content) were 30% Cd, 0.01% Cr, 11.5% Cu, 4.1% Ni, 13.3% Pb and 13.8% Zn. The general trend of metal accumulation in plants was Zn > Cu > Cr > Pb > Ni > Cd and statically accumulation differences were found to largely depend on plant species. Thus different metal uptake and translocation strategies were suggested in the studied species: exclusion for Stipa austroitalica and Dasypyrum villosum, whereas tolerance mechanisms for Carduus pycnocephalus, Silybum marianum and Sinapis arvensis. The metal contents in above ground parts of these species were within the values of normal in plants and below phytotoxic levels, thus faraway from phytoextraction applicability. These species can be considered as metal excluder or tolerant plants with ability of growing in soils with a wide range of heavy metal concentrations, mainly immobilized by soil conditions. Thus they accomplished the criteria to be considered for phytostabilization technique in these contaminated sites.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adriano DC (2001) Trace elements in terrestrial environments: biogeochemistry, bioavailability and risks of metals. Springer, New York
Alloway BJ (1995) Heavy metals in soils. Blackie Academic and Professional, London
Baker AJM (1981) Accumulators and excluders-strategies in the response of plants to heavy metals. J Plant Nutr 3:643–654
Baker AJM, Brooks RR (1989) Terrestrial higher plants which hyperaccumulate metallic elements—a review of their distribution, ecology and phytochemistry. Biorecovery 1:81–126
Baker AJM, McGrath SP, Reeves RD, Smith JAC (2000) Metal hyperaccumulator plants: a review of ecology and physiology of a biological resource for phytoremediation of metal-polluted soils. In: Terry N, Bañuelos G, Vangronsveld J (eds) Phytoremediation of contaminated soil and water. Lewis, Boca Raton, FL, USA, pp 85–107
Bolan NS, Adriano DC, Duraisamy P, Mani A, Arulmozhiselvan K (2003) Immobilization and phytoavailability of cadmium in variable charge soils. I. effect of phosphate addition. Plant Soil 250:83–94 doi:10.1023/A:1022826014841
Bradl H (2005) Heavy metals in the environment: origin, interaction and remediation. Elsevier Academic
Brooks RR (1998) Plants that hyperaccumulate heavy metals. CAB International, Wallingford, UK
Carrillo-González RC, González-Chávez MCA (2006) Metal accumulation in wild plants surrounding mining wastes. Environ Pollut 144:84–92 doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2006.01.006
Chaney RL (1989) Toxic accumulation in soils and crops: protecting soil fertility and agricultural food-chains. In: Bar-Yosef B, Barrow NJ, Goldschmid J (eds) Inorganic contaminants in the vadose zone. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, pp 140–158
Chaney RL, Malik M, Li YM, Brown SL, Angle JS, Baker AJM (1997) Phytoremediation of soil metals. Curr Opin Biotechnol 8:279–284 doi:10.1016/S0958-1669(97)80004-3
Clemente R, Almela C, Bernal MP (2006) A remediation strategy based on active phytoremediation followed by natural attenuation in a soil contaminated by pyrite waste. Environ Pollut 143:397–406 doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2005.12.011
Commission of the European Communities (1986) Council Directive 86/278/EEC of 12 June 1986 on the protection of the environment, and in particular of the soil, when sewage sludge is used in agriculture. Off J Eur Communities Directive 181(No. L):6–12
Cunningham SD, Berti WR, Huang JW (1995) Phytoremediation of contaminated soil. Trends Biotechnol 134:393–397 doi:10.1016/S0167-7799(00)88987-8
Cunningham SD, Shann JR, Crowley DE, Anderson TA (1997) Phytoremediation of contaminated water and soil. In: Kruger EL, Anderson TA, Coats JR (eds) Phytoremediation of soil and water contaminants. ACS Symposium Series 664, American Chemical Society, Washington, DC, pp 2–19
Del Rio M, Font R, Almela C, Vélez D, Montoro R, De Haro A (2002) Heavy metals and arsenic uptake by wild vegetation in the Guadiamar river area after the toxic spill of the Aznalcóllar mine. J Biotechnol 98:125–137 doi:10.1016/S0168-1656(02)00091-3
EEA European Environment Agency (2005) The European environment—state and outlook 2005. Copenhagen, Denmark
Gisbert C, Clemente R, Navarro-Avino J, Baixauli C, Giner A, Serrano R, Walker DJ, Bernal MP (2006) Tolerance and accumulation of heavy metals by Brassicaceae species grown in contaminated soils from Mediterranean regions of Spain. Environ Exp Bot 56:19–27 doi:10.1016/j.envexpbot.2004.12.002
Greger M (2003) Metal availability, uptake, transport and accumulation in plants. In: Prasad MNV (ed) Heavy metal stress in plants: from biomolecules to ecosystems. Springer, p 1–28
Gupta AK, Sinha S (2008) Decontamination and/or revegetation of fly ash dykes through naturally growing plants. J Hazard Mater 153:1078–1087
Italy (1999) Ministero per le Politiche Agricole, Metodi ufficiali di analisi chimica del suolo. Decreto Ministeriale del 13 Settembre1999. Gazzetta Ufficciale n 248 del 21.10.1999
Italy (2006) Ministerio dell’Ambiente, Norme in materia ambientale. Decreto Legislativo 3 Aprile 2006, n 152. Gazzetta Ufficiale n 88 del 14.04.2006
Kabata-Pendias A, Pendias H (2001) Trace elements in soils and plants. CRC, Boca Raton
Kumar PBAN, Dushenkov V, Motto H, Raskin I (1995) Phytoextraction: the use of plants to remove heavy metals from soils. Environ Sci Technol 29:1232–1238
Lasat MM (2000) Phytoextraction of metals from contaminated soil: a review of plant/soil/metal interaction and assessment of pertinent agronomic issues. Journal of Hazardous Substance Research 2–5:1–25
Levitt I (1980) Responses of plants to environmental stresses, vol. 2. 2nd edn. Academic, New York
Lindsay WL, Norvell WA (1978) Development of a DPTA soil test for zinc, iron, manganese and copper. Soil Sci Soc Am J 42:421–428
Maiz I, Arambarri I, Garcia R, Millan E (2000) Evaluation of heavy metal availability in polluted soils by two sequential extraction procedures using factor analysis. Environ Pollut 110:3–9
McBride M, Sauvé S, Hendershot W (1997) Solubility control of Cu, Zn, Cd and Pb in contaminated soils. Eur J Soil Sci 48:337–346
McGrath SP (1998) Phytoextraction for soil remediation. In: Brooks RR (ed) Plants that hyperaccumulate heavy metals. CAB International, Wallingford, pp 261–287
McGrath SP, Zhao FJ (2003) Phytoextraction of metals and metalloids from contaminated soils. Curr Opin Biotechnol 14:277–282
McGrath SP, Zhao FJ, Lombi E (2001) Plant and rhizosphere processes involved in phytoremediation of metal-contaminated soils. Plant Soil 232:207–214
McGrath SP, Zhao FJ, Lombi E (2002) Phytoremediation of metals, metalloids and radionuclides. Adv Agron 75:1–56
Mench M, Vangronsveld J, Didier V, Clijsters H (1994) Evaluation of metal mobility, plant availability and immobilization by chemical agents in a limed-silty soil. Environ Pollut 86:279–286
Munshower FF (1994) Practical handbook of disturbed land revegetation. Lewis, Boca Raton
Ortiz O, Alcañiz JM (2006) Bioaccumulation of heavy metals in Dactylis glomerata L. growing in a calcareous soil amended with sewage sludge. Biores Technol 97:545–552
Pérez-de-Mora A, Madejón E, Burgos P, Cabrera F (2006) Trace element availability and plant growth in a mine-spill-contaminated soil under assisted natural remediation II. Plants. Sci Total Environ 363:38–45
Poschenrieder C, Bech J, Llugany M, Pace A, Fenés E, Barceló J (2001) Copper in plant species in a copper gradient in Catalonia (North East Spain) and their potential for phytoremediation. Plant Soil 230:247–256
Prasad MNV (1995) Cadmium toxicity and tolerance to vascular plants. Environ Exp Bot 35:525–545
Reeves RD, Baker AJM (2000) Phytoremediation of toxic metals. In: Raskin I, Ensley BD (eds) Using Plants to Clean Up the Environment. Wiley and Sons Inc, New York
Reichman SM, Parker DR (2005) Metal complexation by phytosiderophores in the rhizosphere. In: Gobran GR and Huang PM (ed) Biogeochemistry of Trace Elements in the Rhizosphere. Elsevier Academic Press
Remon E, Bouchardon JL, Cornier B, Guy B, Leclerc JC, Faure O (2005) Soil characteristics, heavy metal availability and vegetation recovery at a former metallurgical landfill: implications in risk assessment and site restoration. Environ Pollut 137:316–323
Robinson B, Fernández JE, Madejón P, Marañón T, Murillo JM, Green S, Clothier B (2003) Phytoextraction: an assessment of biogeochemical and economic viability. Plant Soil 249:117–125
Roca J, Pomares F (1991) Prediction of available heavy metals by six chemical extractants in a sewage sludge-amended soil. Comm Soil Sci Plant Analysis 22:2119–2136
Ross SM (1994) Retention, transformation and mobility of toxic metals in soils. In: Ross SM (ed) Toxic metals in soil-plant systems. Wiley, New York, pp 63–152
Senesi N (1992) Metal-humic substance complexes in the environment. Molecular and mechanistic aspects by multiple spectroscopic approach. In: Adriano DC (ed) Biogeochemistry of trace metals. CRC, Boca Raton, pp 425–491
Steduto P, Todorovic M (2001) The agro-ecological characterisation of Apulia region (Italy): methodology and experience. Options Méditerranéennes, serie B, vol 34. CIHEAM—Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Bari, Italy
Walker DJ, Clemente R, Roig A, Bernal MP (2003) The effects of soil amendments on heavy metal bioavailability in two contaminated Mediterranean soils. Environ Pollut 122:303–312
Wang G, Su MY, Chen YH, Lin FF, Luo D, Gao SF (2006) Transfer characteristics of cadmium and lead from soil to the edible parts of six vegetable species in southeastern China. Environ Pollut 144:127–135
Wei S, Zhou Q, Wang X (2005) Identification of weed plants excluding the uptake of heavy metals. Environ Int 31:829–834
Whiting SN, Reeves RD, Richards D, Johnson MS, Cooke JA, Malaisse F, Paton A, Smith JAC, Angle JS, Chaney RL, Ginocchio R, Jaffré T, Johns R, McIntyre T, Purvis OW, Salt DE, Schat H, Zhao FJ, Baker AJM (2004) Research priorities for conservation of metallophyte biodiversity and their potential for restoration and site remediation. Restorat Ecol 12:106–116
Wong MH (2003) Ecological restoration of mine degraded soils, with emphasis on metal contaminated soils. Chemosphere 50:775–780
Zayed A, Terry N (2003) Chromium in the environment: factors affecting biological remediation. Plant Soil 249:139–156
Acknowledgements
This work has been funded by Regione Puglia (Italy) through the research project POR Puglia 2000–2006, Misura 1.8-Azione 4: “Monitoraggio siti inquinati”. Supporto scientifico alle attività di recupero funzionale ed il ripristino ambientale del sito inquinato dell’Alta Murgia. The authors are grateful to Dr. Enrico Vito Perrino for plant identification and help during the field work.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Responsible Editor: Juan Barcelo.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Brunetti, G., Soler-Rovira, P., Farrag, K. et al. Tolerance and accumulation of heavy metals by wild plant species grown in contaminated soils in Apulia region, Southern Italy. Plant Soil 318, 285–298 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-008-9838-3
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-008-9838-3