Metal uptake by young trees from dredged brackish sediment: limitations and possibilities for phytoextraction and phytostabilisation

Field performance of alder-Frankia symbionts for the reclamation of oil sands sites

“…Alders have been found to increase soil total nitrogen and carbon (Martin et al, 2003). In addition to thriving in low nitrogen conditions, alders have been reported to support growth in salt affected environments (Graves and Gallagher, 2003;Mertens et al, 2004) and in composite tailings (Khasa et al, 2002). Alder growth was monitored in oil-shale mining detritus and found to be comparable to that recorded on two reference fertile sites (Vares et al, 2004).…”

Metal Contaminated Dredged Sediment Derived Soils: A Case Of Diffuse Contamination

“…Recycling of elements through litter fall and litter decomposition can be an important pathway for input into the food web (Mertens et al, 2004). Despite physicochemical conditions favouring limited metal mobility, some plants can exhibit elevated metal concentrations in the above ground parts .…”

“…Foliar Cd and Zn concentrations in willow (> 6.6 mg Cd kg -1 DW and > 700 mg Zn kg -1 DW) were elevated compared to concentrations observed in reference situations (0.5 -2.9 and 128 -338 mg kg -1 DW for Cd and Zn, respectively) . Other plants, such as ash, alder, maple and Robinia, do not accumulate metal levels in excess to these encountered in a not contaminated environment (Mertens et al, 2004;. The hydrological condition of a site has a great influence on the availability of trace elements for uptake by plants.…”

Riparian Shrub Metal Concentrations and Growth in Amended Fluvial Mine Tailings

“…Red alder (Alnus rubra Bong.) had less than 0.6 mg kg being planted in a field setting on dredged sediment containing 5.7-5.9 mg kg −1 total Cd (Mertens et al 2004). Rosselli et al (2003) found no detectable Cd in aboveground tissues of thinleaf alder grown in sewage sludge containing 1.71 mg kg −1 Cd.…”

“…) are also useful for restoration of areas with heavy metal contamination (Mertens et al 2004;Rosselli et al 2003) as aboveground metal concentrations of most species tend to be low when grown in heavy metal-contaminated soils (Gaulke et al 2006;Mertens et al 2004;Rosselli et al 2003). An additional benefit of alders is their ability to fix N 2 and increase N availability in soils.…”