Abstract. Napaldet JT, Buot Jr. IE, Zafaralla MT, Lit Jr. IL, Sotto RC. 2019. Effect of phytoremediation on the morpho-anatomical characters of some aquatic macrophytes. Biodiversitas 20: 1289-1302. In constructed wetland studies, the effect of pollutants or the phytoremediation set-up on aquatic macrophytes is often not investigated. This literature gap may prove useful in realizing the full phytoremediation potential of aquatic macrophytes. This study was conducted to examine the effect of phytoremediation, the set-up, and the pollutants, on the morpho-anatomical characters of aquatic macrophytes used in the constructed wetlands. This was investigated in Amaranthus spinosus, Eichhornia crassipes, Eleusine indica, and Pennisetum purpureum. Simultaneously, interesting anatomical features in the aquatic macrophytes were discovered. Anomalous secondary growth was discovered in roots and stems of A. spinosus while isobilateral anatomy of the leaf with two layers of vascular bundles and two palisade layers under each epidermis were noted in E. crassipes. The anatomy of P. purpureum was also first reported here. Results showed that the response of the aquatic macrophytes toward phytoremediation treatments was species-specific. E. indica and P. purpureum were the ones significantly affected by the phytoremediation treatment in contrasting ways. E. indica under phytoremediation suffered significantly lower growth rate than those in the uncontaminated site which could be attributed to the inability of its relatively short root system to tap into the water and nutrients. On the other hand, P. purpureum exhibited higher biomass and growth rate under phytoremediation treatment which is primarily due to the water pollutants absorbed as nutrients by the plant. There were no structural differences observed in the anatomy of the aquatic macrophytes between sampling sites except in E. indica. The root’s cortex in samples under phytoremediation has no aerenchyma while this is present in uncontaminated site and Balili River samples. This shows that, indeed, some aquatic macrophytes were significantly affected (p=0.00) by phytoremediation that should be taken in consideration when planning and designing constructed wetlands.
Abstract. Napaldet JT, Buot JR IE. 2019. Diversity of aquatic macrophytes in Balili River, La Trinidad, Benguet, Philippines as potential phytoremediators. Biodiversitas 20: 1048-1054. Phytoremediation, an emerging, low-cost, aesthetically pleasing technology, is now being eyed for restoration of Balili River, Philippines. But first, there is a need to identify plants ideal for its phytoremediation. Macrophytes in the main stream, Bolo Creek and Mamaga Creek of Balili River were inventoried in this study with focus on determining macrophytes that were local, dominant (=fast growing), have high biomass and deep root systems – traits ideal for phytoremediation. A total of 38 species of macrophytes under 37 genera and 19 families were inventoried. This number is much higher than the previous inventory which recorded only 9 species. Consequently, diversity indices recorded in this study is much higher. The difference could be attributed to the time of sampling wherein the previous inventory was done in July, a rainy month, in contrast with this in April, the summer month at which the river is at its lowest level. At this period, much of the littoral zone is exposed for colonization of plants known to be easily dispersed and germinate such as Asteraceae species. In terms of species richness, family Asteraceae was the most represented with 11 species but in terms of dominance, the story was different. Dominant macrophytes of Balili River were species of family Poaceae (Pennisetum purpureum, Eleusine indica and Cynodon dactylon), Amaranthaceae (Amaranthus spinosus and Alternanthera sessilis), Solanaceae (Solanum americanum) and Commelinaceae (Commelina diffusa). Local macrophytes with potential for phytoremediation were P. purpureum, E. indica, A. spinosus and S. americanum.
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