Vegetation Pattern and Heavy Metal Accumulation at a Mine Tailing at Gyöngyösoroszi, Hungary

Abstract

Vegetation at an abandoned heavy metal bearing mine tailing may have multifunctional roles such as modification of water balance, erosion control and landscape rehabilitation. Research on the vegetation of mine tailings can provide useful information on tolerance, accumulation and translocation properties of species potentially applicable at moderately contaminated sites. Analyses of the relationship between heavy metal content (Pb, Zn and Cu) and vegetation in a mine tailing were carried out. These analyses included: (1) spatial analysis of relationship among heavy metal distribution, pH and vegetation patterns, and (2) analysis of heavy metal accumulation and translocation in some plant species. Presence of vegetation was found to be significantly dependent on pH value, which confirms that phytotoxicity is a function of element concentration in solution, which is primarily controlled by pH value in mine tailings. Among the most abundant plant species, dewberry (Rubus caesius), vipersbugloss (Echium vulgare), scarlet pimpernel (Anagallis arvensis) and narrowleaf plantain (Plantago lanceolata) accumulate significant amounts of Pb, Cu and Zn, while in the case of annual bluegrass (Poa annua) only Pb can be measured in elevated contents. Considering the translocation features, scarlet pimpernel, narrowleaf plantain, and dewberry accumulate heavy metals primarily in their roots, while heavy metal concentration in vipersbugloss and annual bluegrass is higher in the shoots.

Accumulation of antimony and other potentially toxic elements in plants around a former antimony mine located in the Ribes Valley (Eastern Pyrenees)

“…The higher organic matter content in soils at site P3 (Table 1) may account for lower bioavailability of the trace elements at this site. E. vulgare has also been described as an abundant species on mine tailings with high Pb, Zn, and Cu burdens in Hungary (Tamás and Kovács, 2005). These authors observed a high root to shoot transfer of metals in E. vulgare.…”

Metal contamination of soils and plants associated with the glass industry in North Central India: prospects of phytoremediation

“…Pedron et al (2009) have reported high removal efficiency in the species for Cu, Zn, and Ni with accumulation up to 600, 460, and 350 mg/kg, respectively, in shoot. Tamás and Kovács (2005) analyzed the relationship between metal contents (Pb, Zn, and Cu) and vegetation in a mine-tailing. P. annua, an abundant species, showed elevated Pb concentration with higher concentration in the shoots.…”

Comparison of heavy-metal bioaccumulation properties in <i>Pinus</i> sp. and <i>Quercus</i> sp. in selected European Cu deposits

“…This is shown by various bioaccumulative properties of these two species. The predominantly low TF values indicate also that in most cases the heavy metals are accumulated in the roots, which is known in many other scientific studies (Tamás and Kovács, 2005;Tomaškin et al, 2013;Parzych, 2016). Only in a few rare cases do they migrate to shoots (Andráš et al, 2013), e.g.…”