Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Santos, Alina E
• Cruz-Ortega, Rocio
• Meza-Figueroa, Diana
• Romero, Francisco M
• Sanchez-Escalante, Jose Jesus
• Maier, Raina M
• Neilson, Julia W
• Alcaraz, Luis David
• Molina Freaner, Francisco E

Titel

Plants from the abandoned Nacozari mine tailings: evaluation of their phytostabilization potential

Ist Teil von

• PeerJ (San Francisco, CA), 2017-05, Vol.5, p.e3280-e3280, Article e3280

Ort / Verlag

United States: PeerJ. Ltd

Erscheinungsjahr

2017

Quelle

EZB Electronic Journals Library

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Phytostabilization is a remediation technology that uses plants for in-situ stabilization of contamination in soils and mine tailings. The objective of this study was to identify native plant species with potential for phytostabilization of the abandoned mine tailings in Nacozari, Sonora in northern Mexico. A flora of 42 species in 16 families of angiosperms was recorded on the tailings site and the abundance of the most common perennial species was estimated. Four of the five abundant perennial species showed evidence of regeneration: the ability to reproduce and establish new seedlings. A comparison of selected physicochemical properties of the tailings in vegetated patches with adjacent barren areas suggests that pH, electrical conductivity, texture, and concentration of potentially toxic elements do not limit plant distribution. For the most abundant species, the accumulation factor for most metals was <1, with the exception of Zn in two species. A short-term experiment on adaptation revealed limited evidence for the formation of local ecotypes in and . Overall, the results of this study indicate that five native plant species might have potential for phytostabilization of the Nacozari tailings and that seed could be collected locally to revegetate the site. More broadly, this study provides a methodology that can be used to identify native plants and evaluate their phytostabilization potential for similar mine tailings.