Multiyear phytoremediation and dynamic of foliar metal(loid)s concentration during application of Miscanthus × giganteus Greef et Deu to polluted soil from Bakar, Croatia

Abstract

The multiyear cultivation of Miscanthus × giganteus Greef et Deu (M.×giganteus) at the soils polluted by metal(loid)s were researched. The biomass parameters and concentrations of elements: Ti, Mn, Fe, Cu, Zn, As, Sr, and Mo were determined in the plant's organs at harvest. The same metal(loid)s were monitored in the plant's leaves throughout three vegetation seasons. The principal component analysis and general linear model approaches were applied for statistical evaluation followed by Box-Cox transformation. The difference in the distribution of elements in the plant, the content of elements in the soil, various regime of uptake to the plant tissues, and the year of vegetation were analyzed as driving factors of the phytoremediation. The results showed that the leading promoter was the factor of the zone, which was the most essential for Ti, Fe, and Cu and the smallest for Mn. The factor of differences in soil pollution was essential for Zn and Mo, much less for As, Sr, and Mn, limited for Fe, and was not seen for Ti and Cu. The factor of the interrelation effects of the zone and experiment reflected the different regime of uptake for the plant tissues was seen for two elements: more prominent for Cu and smaller for Ti. While analyzing the dynamic of foliar concentrations of the metal(loid)s during 3 years, two groups were defined. Firstly, Fe, Ni, Mn, and Sr showed stable curves with limited distribution of the plant life cycle. Secondly, As, Zn, Cu, and Mo showed different fluctuations in the curves, which can be attributed to essential influence of those elements to the plant life cycle. Further research will be focused on the application of M.×giganteus to the polluted soil in a bigger scale and comparison results of laboratory and field experiments.

Mineral Materials as a Neutralizing Agent Used on Soil Contaminated with Copper

“…Dangerous factors of anthropogenic origin are involved in processes that intensify the migration of metals to the edaphotope, which contributes to the reduction of vegetation (devegetation) and water depletion (dehumidification) and is destructive to the agrophysical, physicochemical and biological properties of soils, providing them with toxic properties [1][2][3]. These transformations arise mainly from the deposition of heavy metals caused by the emissions of metal-bearing dust, liquid and solid industrial and municipal waste, agricultural fertilizers and plant protection products, and motor traffic flow through roads and streets [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]. Any metal (metalloid) can be considered an impurity if it is present where it is not desired or in a form or concentration that causes harmful effects to humans or the environment [13].…”

“…The durability of these bonds depends on the soil pH, amount and type of minerals, redox potential, sorption capacity and organic matter content [7,27]. A method that allows reduction of the harmfulness of heavy metals is the addition of neutralizing materials to the soil [3,[28][29][30] so as to bind metals in insoluble metal-mineral or organo-metallic forms, which-under favorable conditions-may remain in the soil in harmless forms for a long period [9,31]. The most common neutralizing materials are zeolites, bentonite, clay, lime, and also organic materials, like compost, tree bark, farmyard manure and peat [3,23,30].…”

Dynamic of Morphological and Physiological Parameters and Variation of Soil Characteristics during Miscanthus × giganteus Cultivation in the Diesel-Contaminated Land

“…A growing number of studies have described the crop's successful application for phytoremediation of the trace elements (TEs) contaminated soil [19] and soil health improvement during vegetation [20]. However, few publications introduced the plant's successful application to remediate organic's contaminated lands [12], including the petroleum hydrocarbons contaminated soils [6,21,22].…”

Impact of Plant Growth Regulators to Development of the Second Generation Energy Crop Miscanthus × giganteus Produced Two Years in Marginal Post-Military Soil

“…The growing demand for alternative energy and lignocellulose biomass to mitigate climate change has made M. × giganteus a popular crop [13], and commercial production has been initiated in countries with limited access to energy, including Ukraine [13,14]. The crop can be applied as a phytoagent in land slightly contaminated by trace elements (TEs) [15] or oil products [16,17]. Its biomass can be converted to liquid fuels and numerous value-added bio-based products, for example, fibers for fibrous and isolation materials [18,19] and pulp for paper and packaging materials [20,21].…”