Growth of four tropical tree species in petroleum-contaminated soil and effects of crude oil contamination

Abstract

Under greenhouse conditions, we evaluated establishment of four tree species and their capacity to degrade crude oil recently incorporated into the soil; the species were as follows: Cedrela odorata (tropical cedar), Haematoxylum campechianum (tinto bush), Swietenia macrophylla (mahogany), and Tabebuia rosea (macuilis). Three-month-old plants were planted in soil with three treatments of heavy petroleum and a control (C0 0 mg kg; C1 18,000 mg kg; C2 31,700 mg kg; C3 47,100 mg kg) with four repetitions per treatment and species; the experiment was carried out for 245 days. Height and biomass of all species significantly diminished as petroleum concentration increased, although plant survival was not affected. The quantity of colony-forming units (CFU) of rhizospheric bacteria varied among tree species and treatments; petroleum stimulated bacterial CFU for S. macrophylla. The number of fungi CFU for S. macrophylla and T. rosea was significantly greater in C0 than in soil with petroleum, but among species and among different concentrations, no significant differences were found. The greatest percentage of total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) degradation was found in C1 for soil without plants (45 %). Differences from the remaining treatments (petroleum concentrations in soil and plant species) were not significant (P < 0.05). Among all trees, H. campechianum had the greatest TPH degradation (32.5 % in C2). T. rosea (C1) and H. campechianum (C2) resulted in petroleum degradation at levels ranging from 20.5 to 32.5 %. On the basis of this experiment, the tree species used did not improve TPH degradation. However, all of them showed high rates of survival and vigor. So, as tree species provide goods and services, experiments with inoculation of hydrocarbonclastic microorganisms, addition of fertilizers, and mixture of tree and grasses are recommended.

Detection and discrimination of various oil-contaminated soils using vegetation reflectance

“…The sensitivity of species to TPH and HM exposure is among the most influential factors (Merkl et al 2005, Pérez-Hernández et al 2017, as it leads to an important interspecific variability of vegetation spectral response (Arellano et al 2017, Credoz et al 2016, Emengini et al 2013c, Sanches et al 2013b. Hence, the less a species is sensitive to TPH and HM, the harder it is to detect oil contamination.…”

Rhizoremediation as a green technology for the remediation of petroleum hydrocarbon-contaminated soils

“…In this regard, plant tolerance to TPH, root morphology, and root exudate profile should be taken into account (Correa-García et al 2018). Recently, different types of plants have been used for the dissipation of TPH in soils, such as grasses (Kiamarsi et al 2020;Steliga and Kluk 2020), legumes (Allamin et al 2020;Hussain et al 2019), agronomic crops (Baoune et al 2019;Ghalamboran et al 2020), ornamental plants (Cheng et al 2019), and shrubs and trees (Anyasi and Atagana 2018;Pérez-Hernández et al 2017). Generally, native plants show higher adaptation to contamination than introduced ones (Bell et al 2014;Gaskin and Bentham 2010;Nedunuri et al 2009), because of better interaction with the local beneficial soil microbiota (Bolan et al 2013;Chowdhury et al 2017).…”

Complete Genome Sequence of a New Firmicutes Species Isolated from Anaerobic Biomass Hydrolysis

“…Degrading bacteria, most of them isolated from soil, play relevant roles in the turnover of different types of material, such as petrol ( 1 ), pollutants ( 2 ), metal ( 3 ), and cellulose ( 4 , 5 ). In the case of plant biomass degradation in biogas reactors, such microorganisms play an important role in making hardly accessible polymeric carbon sources available for other organisms for the production of biogas.…”