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Genotypic differences explain most of the response of willow cultivars to petroleum-contaminated soil

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Highly tolerant and productive willow cultivars have been identified as potential candidates for phytoremediation of contaminated soil with petroleum hydrocarbons (PHs) in southern Quebec, Canada.

Abstract

Tolerance of Salix to various organic and inorganic contaminants has been well documented and can vary widely among genotypes. In this study, we compared the responses and tolerances of 11 willow cultivars grown in soil contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbons. The study aimed to identify cultivars with the best performance and capacity to establish under these conditions. Using cuttings of the selected willow genotypes, a high-density field experiment was set up on a former industrial site encompassing two distinct sectors: one contaminated (900 m2), and the other uncontaminated (2,400 m2), which was used as control following a randomized block design. Trees were monitored over two growing seasons by recording a series of growth parameters and physiological measurements (leaf area, chlorophyll concentration, stomatal conductance and nutrient concentration). Genotypic differences explained most of the responses of cultivars observed to soil contamination. S. miyabeana (SX67 and SX61) achieved the highest biomass production, while S. nigra (S05) and S. acutifolia (S54) had the highest photosynthetic capacity. While the cultivars S. × dasyclados (SV1), S. purpurea (‘Fish Creek’) and S. caprea (S365) appeared to be negatively affected by the presence of contaminants, the establishment and development of S05, S. eriocephala (S25) and S. purpurea × S. miyabeana (‘Millbrook’) was much less influenced by soil pollution. Our results will help to guide cultivar selection in future phytoremediation projects.

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Author contribution statement

Labrecque M., Pitre F., and Guidi W. made the conception and the design set up. Grenier V. and Guidi W. worked on data acquisition. Grenier V., Guidi W., Labrecque M., and Pitre F. worked on the analysis and interpretation of data. Grenier V. made the statistical analysis and the drafting of the manuscript. Labrecque M., Pitre F., and Guidi W. brought a critical revision and Labrecque M. and Pitre F. made the final approval.

Acknowledgments

Our thanks to Stéphane Daigle for assistance with statistical analysis, to Karen Grislis for linguistic revision of the manuscript and to the numerous individuals who assisted in biomass harvesting and measurement of physiological parameters. We would also like to thank Pétromont Société en Commandite for providing access to the experimental site. This study was funded by Genome Canada and Génome Québec, as part of the GenoRem project.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut de recherche en biologie végétale, 4101 Sherbrooke East, Montreal, QC, H1X 2B2, Canada

    Vanessa Grenier, Frédéric E. Pitre, Werther Guidi Nissim & Michel Labrecque

  2. Department of Plant, Soil and Environmental Science, University of Florence, Piazza di San Marco, 4, 50121, Florence, Italy

    Werther Guidi Nissim

Authors
  1. Vanessa Grenier
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  2. Frédéric E. Pitre
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  3. Werther Guidi Nissim
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  4. Michel Labrecque
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Correspondence to Michel Labrecque.

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Communicated by G. Piovesan.

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Grenier, V., Pitre, F.E., Guidi Nissim, W. et al. Genotypic differences explain most of the response of willow cultivars to petroleum-contaminated soil. Trees 29, 871–881 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-015-1168-5

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