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Assessment of the adaptive capacity of plant species in copper mine tailings in arid and semiarid environments

  • Reclamation and Management of Polluted Soils: Options and Case Studies
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Abstract

Purpose

The objective of this work was to identify hyperaccumulator plants and evaluate their capacity on copper mine tailings in the Antofagasta Region (Chile), considered one of the most arid in the world.

Materials and methods

Two native plant species, Gazania rigens and Pelargonium hortorum, were grown during 11 weeks on mine tailings. The physico-chemical characterization of the mine tailings under study indicated that the substrate required conditioning to support a phytoremediation system. In this respect, organic and inorganic amendments and mycorrizhal fungi were added to the substrate. Three treatments were designed to assess the effects of the amendments through an analysis of variance.

Results and discussion

Indicators of plant growth and development were measured weekly, and concentrations of Cd, Cu, Fe, Mn, Pb, Al, and Zn in roots of tailing-grown plants and substrate were measured at the end of the experiment.

Conclusions

The results were used to determine the bioconcentration factor (BCF), which demonstrated that both species act as excluders of Fe, Mn, Pb, Al, and Zn. In addition, it was found that both species present characteristics of potential accumulators of Cu.

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Acknowledgements

This study was conducted in the framework of a CORFO-INNOVA project (08CM01-05), titled “Integrated development of magneto-chemical technologies and phytotechnologies applied to the remediation of heavy metals in the development of mining environmental liabilities.”

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Chemical Engineering Department, Universidad Católica del Norte, Antofagasta, Chile

    Elizabeth J. Lam & María E. Gálvez

  2. Metallurgical and Mining Engineering Department, Universidad Católica del Norte, Antofagasta, Chile

    Manuel Cánovas & Ítalo L. Montofré

  3. Department of Computing & Systems Engineering, Universidad Católica del Norte, Antofagasta, Chile

    Brian F. Keith

Authors
  1. Elizabeth J. Lam
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  2. María E. Gálvez
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  3. Manuel Cánovas
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  4. Ítalo L. Montofré
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Correspondence to Elizabeth J. Lam.

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Lam, E.J., Gálvez, M.E., Cánovas, M. et al. Assessment of the adaptive capacity of plant species in copper mine tailings in arid and semiarid environments. J Soils Sediments 18, 2203–2216 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-017-1835-9

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