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Elemental and stable isotope composition of Pinus halepensis foliage along a metal(loid) polluted gradient: implications for phytomanagement of mine tailings in semiarid areas

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Abstract

Background and aims

Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis Mill.) is a widely used species for restoring degraded semiarid areas, but its use for the revegetation of metal(loid) polluted soils has not been thoroughly investigated. The main goal of this research was to study the ecophysiological status and elemental composition of spontaneous populations of Pinus halepensis growing on mine tailings to assess their use in phytomanagement of mine spoils in semiarid climates.

Methods

Edaphic characteristics and the physiological (by stable isotopes) and nutritional status of pine trees were determined on mine tailings, in the metalloid-polluted surroundings and a non-polluted control area.

Results

Low soil phosphorus availability at the tailings was found to be a more important limiting factor for pine physiological performance than high soil metal(lloid)s concentrations. Foliar phosphorus concentrations showed a strong negative correlation with foliar sulphur concentrations along the studied transect. The carbon and oxygen isotopic composition (δ13C and δ18O) of pine needles indicated that trees at the tailings were less water stressed than those in surroundings or control areas. The low foliar δ15N of pines growing at the tailings was due to low soil fertility and/or a heavy reliance on symbiotic ectomycorrhizal fungi for nitrogen uptake.

Conclusions

The results of this study indicate that Pinus halepensis is a suitable tree species for the phytostablisation of neutral or slightly-alkaline mining wastes in semiarid environments, thanks to its drought hardiness and good adaptation to low soil fertility and salinity.

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Acknowledgement

Financial support for this research was provided by the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad of Spain and FEDER (Project CTM2011-23958) and Fundación Séneca of Comunidad Autónoma de la Región de Murcia (Project 15296/PI/10). Dr. Héctor M. Conesa thanks the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad and UPCT for funding through the “Ramon y Cajal” programme (Ref. RYC-2010-05665). We thank SAIT (Luis Alberto Alcolea, Magdalena Vázquez, Ana Vanessa Caparrós, Vicente Muñoz y Ana Belen Rodríguez) from Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena and Maria José Espinosa Antolinos from CEBAS-CSIC for their lab and analytical assessment.

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  1. María Nazaret González-Alcaraz

    Present address: Department of Ecological Science, Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, VU University, De Boelelaan 1085, 1081, HV, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Ciencia y Tecnología Agraria, Universidad Politecnica de Cartagena, Paseo Alfonso XIII, 48 30203, Cartagena, Spain

    Isabel Parraga-Aguado, María Nazaret González-Alcaraz & Hector M. Conesa

  2. Water and Soil Conservation Department, Centro de Edafología y Biología Aplicada del Segura CEBAS-CSIC Campus Universitario de Espinardo, PO Box 164, ES-30100, Espinardo, Murcia, Spain

    Jose-Ignacio Querejeta

  3. BIOCYMA. Consultora en Medio Ambiente y Calidad, S.L. C/Acisclo Díaz, N°9 4°K., 30005, Murcia, Spain

    Francisco J. Jiménez-Cárceles

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  1. Isabel Parraga-Aguado
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  2. Jose-Ignacio Querejeta
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Correspondence to Hector M. Conesa.

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Parraga-Aguado, I., Querejeta, JI., González-Alcaraz, M.N. et al. Elemental and stable isotope composition of Pinus halepensis foliage along a metal(loid) polluted gradient: implications for phytomanagement of mine tailings in semiarid areas. Plant Soil 379, 93–107 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-014-2038-4

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