TY - JOUR
T1 - Plants from the abandoned Nacozari mine tailings
T2 - Evaluation of their phytostabilization potential
AU - Santos, Alina E.
AU - Cruz-Ortega, Rocio
AU - Meza-Figueroa, Diana
AU - Romero, Francisco M.
AU - Sanchez-Escalante, Jose Jesus
AU - Maier, Raina M.
AU - Neilson, Julia W.
AU - Alcaraz, Luis David
AU - Freaner, Francisco E.Molina
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 Santos et al.
PY - 2017
Y1 - 2017
N2 - 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 Prosopis velutina and Amaranthus watsonii. 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.
AB - 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 Prosopis velutina and Amaranthus watsonii. 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.
KW - Copper mine tailings
KW - Mexico
KW - Phytostabilization
KW - Sonora
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85018261539&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85018261539&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.7717/peerj.3280
DO - 10.7717/peerj.3280
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85018261539
SN - 2167-8359
VL - 2017
JO - PeerJ
JF - PeerJ
IS - 5
M1 - e3280
ER -