Complementarity of three distinctive phytoremediation crops for multiple-trace element contaminated soil

Dominic Desjardins; Nicholas J B Brereton; Lilian Marchand; Jacques Brisson; Frédéric E Pitre; Michel Labrecque

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.08.196

Complementarity of three distinctive phytoremediation crops for multiple-trace element contaminated soil

Sci Total Environ. 2018 Jan 1:610-611:1428-1438. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.08.196. Epub 2017 Aug 30.

Authors

Dominic Desjardins¹, Nicholas J B Brereton², Lilian Marchand³, Jacques Brisson¹, Frédéric E Pitre⁴, Michel Labrecque⁴

Affiliations

¹ Institut de recherche en biologie végétale, Université de Montréal, 4101 Sherbrooke Est, Montréal, QC H1X 2B2, Canada.
² Institut de recherche en biologie végétale, Université de Montréal, 4101 Sherbrooke Est, Montréal, QC H1X 2B2, Canada. Electronic address: nicholas.brereton@umontreal.ca.
³ INRA, UMR 1202 BIOGECO, 69 route d'Arcachon, FR-33612 Cestas cedex, France; University of Bordeaux, UMR 1202 BIOGECO, Bat B2, Allée Geoffroy St-Hilaire, CS50023, FR-33615 Pessac cedex, France.
⁴ Institut de recherche en biologie végétale, Université de Montréal, 4101 Sherbrooke Est, Montréal, QC H1X 2B2, Canada; Montreal Botanical Garden, 4101 Sherbrooke Est, Montréal, QC H1X 2B2, Canada.

PMID: 28873664
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.08.196

Abstract

Trace element (TE) contaminated land represents an important risk to the environment and to human health worldwide. These soils usually contain a variety of TEs which can be a challenge for plant-based remediation options. As individual plant species often possess a limited range of TE remediation abilities, functional complementarity principles could be of value for remediation of soil contaminated by multiple TEs using assemblages of species. Monocultures and polycultures of Festuca arundinacea, Medicago sativa and Salix miyabeana were grown for 4months in aged-polluted soil contaminated by Ag, As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb, Se and Zn. Above and belowground biomass yields, root surface area (RSA) and TE tissue concentrations were recorded. In monoculture, the greatest aboveground biomass was produced by S. miyabeana (S), the greatest belowground biomass was from M. sativa (M) and F. arundinacea (F) produced the highest RSA. The polycultures of F+M, F+S and F+M+S produced among the highest values across all three traits. F. arundinacea monoculture and its combination with S. miyabeana (F+S) accumulated the highest amounts of total TEs in belowground tissues, whereas the most effective combination (or monoculture) for aboveground extraction yields varied depending on the TE considered. The crops demonstrated complementarity in their biomass allocation patterns as well as facilitative interactions. When considering contamination with a particular TE, the best phytomanagement approach could include a specific monoculture option; however, when above and belowground biomass allocation patterns, TE-remediation abilities as well as nitrogen accessibility are considered, co-cropping all three species (F+M+S) was the most robust scenario for remediation of multiple-TE contaminated land. By more effectively addressing a diversity of TE, species assemblage approaches could represent an important advancement towards enabling the use of plants to address contaminated-land issues worldwide.

Keywords: Ecology; Functional complementarity; Phytoremediation; Polycultures; Soil remediation; Trace elements.