Copper Uptake and Its Effects on Two Riparian Plant Species, the Native Urtica dioica, and the Invasive Fallopia japonica

Abstract

Copper accumulating in stream sediments can be transported to adjacent riparian habitats by flooding. Although being an essential element for plants, copper is toxic at high concentrations and restricts, among other things, plant growth. Besides copper, invasive plants, such as Fallopia japonica, which are known to be tolerant toward heavy metals, modify riparian habitats. If the tolerance of F. japonica is higher compared to native plants, this could accelerate invasion under high heavy metal stress. Therefore, we aimed to compare the effect of copper on two common riparian plants, the invasive F. japonica and the native Urtica dioica. We performed a pot experiment with a gradient from 0 to 2430 mg kg−1 of soil copper. We hypothesized that (i) negative effects on plant growth increase with increasing soil copper concentrations with F. japonica being less affected and (ii) accumulating higher amounts of copper in plant tissues compared to U. dioica. In support of our first hypothesis, growth (height, leaf number) and biomass (above- and belowground) of F. japonica were impacted at the 810 mg kg−1 treatment, while the growth of U. dioica was already impacted at 270 mg kg−1. Due to 100% mortality of plants, the 2430 mg kg−1 treatment was omitted from the analysis. In contrast, chlorophyll content slightly increased with increasing copper treatment for both species. While U. dioica accumulated more copper in total, the copper uptake by F. japonica increased more strongly after exposure compared to the control. In the 810 mg kg−1 treatment, copper concentrations in F. japonica were up to 2238% higher than in the control but only up to 634% higher in U. dioica. Our results indicate that F. japonica might be able to more efficiently detoxify internal copper concentrations controlling heavy metal effects compared to the native species. This could give F. japonica a competitive advantage particularly in polluted areas, facilitating its invasion success.

Evaluation of the Main Macro-, Micro- and Trace Elements Found in Fallopia japonica Plants and Their Traceability in Its Honey: A Case Study from the Northwestern and Western Part of Romania

“…Our results are in accordance with observations reported by Sołtysiak (2020) [44] and Schmitz et al (2023) [73], who tested the effect of Cu contamination by using different concentration treatments on FJ plants. The observations revealed a higher concentration in rhizomes [43,73]. In addition, Vidican et al ( 2023) observed a surpass of Cu notably in roots and leaves of FJ plants in polluted sites in Baia Mare city [50].…”

“…The explanation of this surplus can be associated again with the industrialization of the area (for Meris , or) and with agricultural practices (for Bocsig), as Cu is easily accumulated through the utilization of manure as fertilizer or Cu-based fungicides [71,72]. Our results are in accordance with observations reported by Sołtysiak (2020) [44] and Schmitz et al (2023) [73], who tested the effect of Cu contamination by using different concentration treatments on FJ plants. The observations revealed a higher concentration in rhizomes [43,73].…”

“…The Pb levels for the three analyzed sites highlighted a generally low concentration among all FJ plant tissues. The only exception was Meris , or, which exhibited a higher value of Pb in leaves (2.084 mg/kg) and therefore, slightly exceeded the standard limits of natural Pb concentration in plants (2 mg/kg) [73]. The fact that Pb was found in higher quantity in leaves from Meris , or could be explained by the long history of toxic elements processing at Baia Mare industrial platforms and also because plants primarily uptake lead from the atmosphere, predominantly via their leaves [74].…”

SystemLink: Moving beyond Aquatic–Terrestrial Interactions to Incorporate Food Web Studies

“…In SystemLink, aquatic–terrestrial research is conducted at different scales: (A) Ecotoxicological studies at the batch‐scale; (B) The Joint‐Pot Experiment at the site‐scale, in which the effects of soil contamination via flooding can be assessed on soil processes and microbial communities as well as plant parameters (Girardi et al 2022; Schmitz et al 2023). (C) The outdoor Landau Stream Mesocosm Facility (site‐scale) comprises 16 independent concrete stream mesocosms, which can be used to study the aquatic fate and effects of contaminants, and also the potential links to terrestrial ecosystems, for example, via stable isotope analysis.…”

Limnology and Oceanography Bulletin Volume 32 Number 2 May 2023 41‐87

“…2. In SystemLink, aquatic-terrestrial research is conducted at different scales: (A) Ecotoxicological studies at the batch-scale; (B) The Joint-Pot Experiment at the site-scale, in which the effects of soil contamination via flooding can be assessed on soil processes and microbial communities as well as plant parameters (Girardi et al 2022;Schmitz et al 2023). (C) The outdoor Landau Stream Mesocosm Facility (site-scale) comprises 16 independent concrete stream mesocosms, which can be used to study the aquatic fate and effects of contaminants, and also the potential links to terrestrial ecosystems, for example, via stable isotope analysis.…”