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Heavy metal content in halophytic plants from inland and maritime saline areas

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Central European Journal of Biology

Abstract

We investigated the concentration of Aluminium (Al), Cobalt (Co), Chromium (Cr), Copper (Cu), Iron (Fe), Manganese (Mn), Nickel (Ni) and Zinc (Zn) in the root and aboveground organs of four halophyte species (Salicornia europaea, Suaeda maritima, Salsola soda and Halimione portulacoides), as well as in the soil from maritime and inland saline areas. The aim of our research was to evaluate the capability of some halophyte species to absorb different heavy metals and to detect differentiation of heavy metal accumulation within populations from inland and maritime saline areas. Generally, the plant roots had significantly higher concentrations of metals when compared to stems and leaves. Zinc was the only metal with concentrations significantly higher in the leaves than in the root and stem. Populations from maritime saline areas had higher trace root and stem metal concentrations than populations from inland saline areas. Excepting zinc, populations from inland saline areas had higher heavy metal concentrations in the leaves. The factors that affected metal accumulation by halophytes included the percentage of salt in the soil. We also discuss the potential use of these halophytes in phytoremediation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology and Ecology, University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Sciences, 21000, Novi Sad, Serbia

    Dubravka Milić, Jadranka Luković & Lana Zorić

  2. Institute of Field and Vegetable Crops, 21000, Novi Sad, Serbia

    Jordana Ninkov, Tijana Zeremski-Škorić, Jovica Vasin & Stanko Milić

Authors
  1. Dubravka Milić
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  2. Jadranka Luković
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  3. Jordana Ninkov
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  4. Tijana Zeremski-Škorić
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  5. Lana Zorić
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  6. Jovica Vasin
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  7. Stanko Milić
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Correspondence to Dubravka Milić.

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Milić, D., Luković, J., Ninkov, J. et al. Heavy metal content in halophytic plants from inland and maritime saline areas. cent.eur.j.biol. 7, 307–317 (2012). https://doi.org/10.2478/s11535-012-0015-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/s11535-012-0015-6

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