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Species adaptation in serpentine soils in Lesbos Island (Greece): metal hyperaccumulation and tolerance

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Abstract

Serpentine (ultramafic) soils, containing relatively high nickel and other metal concentrations, present a stressful environment for plant growth but also a preferred substrate for some plants which accumulate nickel in their tissues. In the present study we focused on: (1) the relationships between serpentine soils of Lesbos Island (Greece) and serpentinophilic species in order to test their adaptation to the ‘serpentine syndrome’, and (2) the Ni-hyperaccumulation capacity of Alyssum lesbiacum, a serpentine endemic, Ni-hyperaccumulating species, recorded over all its distribution for the first time. We sampled soil and the most abundant plant species from the four serpentine localities of Lesbos Island. Soil and leaf elemental concentrations were measured across all the sites. Our results confirmed our hypothesis that serpentinophilic species are adapted to elevated heavy metal soil concentrations but restricting heavy metal concentration in their leaves. We demonstrated that different A. lesbiacum populations from Lesbos Island present differences in Ni hyperaccumulation according to soil Ni availability. Our results highlighted the understanding of serpentine ecosystems through an extensive field study in an unexplored area. Alyssum lesbiacum and Thlaspi ochroleucum emerge as two strong Ni hyperaccumulators with the former having a high potential for phytoextraction purposes.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank S. Koukoulas for the creation of the GIS-based map depicted in Fig. 1, N. Fyllas for the PCA analysis in the R environment and his comments on the manuscript, and A.Y. Troumbis because he gave us the opportunity to collaborate. This paper forms part of the Innovative Actions 2000–2006—North Aegean 2nd Project (BIOBUS: Biodiversity Resources for Innovative Business Development), EU-DG Regional Policy, decision CCI 2005 GR 16 0 PP 005 [E(2005)5523–13/12/2005].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Montpellier SupAgro, UMR Centre d’Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive, CNRS UMR 5175, 1919 route de Mende, 34293, Montpellier, France

    Elena Kazakou

  2. Biodiversity Conservation Laboratory, Department of Environment, University of the Aegean, University Hill, 81100, Mytilene, Lesbos, Greece

    George C. Adamidis & Panayiotis G. Dimitrakopoulos

  3. School of Botany, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia

    Alan J. M. Baker, Roger D. Reeves & Malinda Godino

Authors
  1. Elena Kazakou
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  2. George C. Adamidis
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  3. Alan J. M. Baker
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  4. Roger D. Reeves
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  5. Malinda Godino
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  6. Panayiotis G. Dimitrakopoulos
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Correspondence to Elena Kazakou.

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Responsible Editor: Juan Barcelo.

Appendices

Appendix I

Table 5 Locations for plant leaf material sampling in Lesbos
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Appendix II

Table 6 Results of the two-way ANOVA (F-values and probabilities) for the effects of species, soil (serpentine and non-serpentine) and their interaction on elemental concentrations of plant collected from the serpentine and non-serpentine substrata on Lesbos. The ANOVA was performed without metal values for both A. lesbiacum and T. οchroleucum. Differences between the serpentine and non-serpentine soils are also presented
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Kazakou, E., Adamidis, G.C., Baker, A.J.M. et al. Species adaptation in serpentine soils in Lesbos Island (Greece): metal hyperaccumulation and tolerance. Plant Soil 332, 369–385 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-010-0302-9

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