Plant Species Potentially Useful in the Phytostabilization Process for the Abandoned CMC Mining Site in Northern Cyprus

Abstract

The Cupper Mining Company (CMC)'s site located in Lefke-Gemikonagi, Northern Cyprus has been a continuous source of highly dangerous contamination for the surrounding environment, the Lefke region, and the neighboring ecosystems and settlements. Rehabilitation and reuse possibilities of the CMC site due to its vital importance have kept its place in the agenda of Northern Cyprus. Phytostabilization appears to be a convenient and less expensive method that can immediately be used for reducing the negative impacts of the mining site on the region. The main purpose of this study is to identify potential candidate plant species, adapted to grow on polluted sites, for revegetation in the CMC site. Within this context, the method of the study can be summarized as follows: literature review for examining potential candidate plant species for pyhtostabilization in arid and semiarid regions, especially the ones suitable both for the existing ecological and present conditions of Cyprus; identification of native and/or cultural plant species survived in the heavily polluted mining site, and definition of a number of candidate plant species for the study site. The result of sampling revealed that 23 plant species thrive well in the contaminated site. As a result of the literature review and considering drought, metal, salt tolerant features of semiarid environment in the region, 5 tree, 4 shrub, and 23 herbaceous plant species were proposed for starting revegetation with the purpose of phytostabilization on the CMC mining site.

Integrated Approach of Phytostabilization for Urban Ecosystem Soils Contaminated with Lead

“…Traditionally, the phytostabilizing plants can be found through systematization of wild species growing on soils with excess content of heavy metals, followed by the analysis of their distribution in plant organs (Cetinkaya & Sozen, 2011). At phytostabilization, the plant species should have a greater ability to accumulate metals in the roots, while their transfer to aerial parts tissues is very limited (Fagnano et al, 2020); therefore, such plants can be potentially consumed by living organisms (Vangronsveld & Cunningham, 1998).…”

Production of Agri-Energy Crop Miscanthus gigantheus on Land Degraded by Power Industry: SWOT Analysis

“…Technology that is increasingly used for reclamation of land degraded by mining is phytoremediation. The use of various types of plants directly on contaminated soil results in the removal of pollutants, primarily heavy metals (HM), if they are transported to the above-ground part of the plant that is removed from the site [3,4] in the phytoextraction process, or they remain immobilized in the underground parts of the plant during the phytostabilization process [5,6], The bioconcentration of heavy metals in plant matter depends on the type of heavy metal, soil characteristics, the content of TM in soil and its bioavailability and genetic, physiological and morphological characteristics of the plant. The primary objective of land reclamation degraded by mining and or industrial activities is to reduce the risk to human health, but for such projects to be sustainable from energetic, environmental and economic aspects it is necessary for the plants to be usable in the future [7][8][9][10].…”

“…Contamination of soil degraded by industrial activities excludes them from the cultivation of crops used for human or animal nutrition, thus the idea of use for the production of energy crops has more and more supporters [11][12][13][14]. Recently published results indicate that it is possible for the economically justifiable production of energy crops in the areas of abandoned mines or in the vicinity of active ones [5,11,15]. The yields obtained are comparable, although regularly lower, than the average yields obtained on agricultural land [16].…”