Effects of Different Wetland Plant Species on Fresh Unweathered Sulphidic Mine Tailings |
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Authors: | Eva Stoltz Maria Greger |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Botany, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden |
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Abstract: | Vegetation cover with two Eriophorum species on old unweathered sulphidic mine tailings has earlier been found to reduce the element levels and to prevent production
of acidity in drainage water. The present study aims to find out if Carex rostrata Stokes, Eriophorum angustifolium Honck. and Phragmites australis (Cav.) Steud. had other effects on metal and As release in fresh unweathered sulphidic mine tailings, if the species showed
different effects and if this depended on plant mechanisms such as O2, carbonate or organic acid release. Plants were grown in pots with fresh sulphidic mine tailings for 13 months. Arsenic,
Cd, Cu, Fe, Pb, Zn, pH, SO
4
2−
, alkalinity and organic acids in the drainage water as well as metals and As in roots and shoot and O2 and redox potential in pore water were analysed. The tailings weathered slowly due to high buffering capacity thus no pH
decrease was found and therefore similar buffering effects by plants as shown in the previous investigation could not be found.
The plants increased the total release of metals and As from the tailings. The release did not depend on carbonate or organic
acid release from plants. However, the Fe and As release was due to changed redox potential, caused by O2 release, and high concentration of Fe and As was found in plant roots. Phragmites australis released more As and Fe but less Cd than E. angustifolium and C. rostrata which make P. australis not suitable for plant establishment on sulphidic mine tailings containing high levels of As. Plants did take up the elements
and the lowest translocation of elements to the shoot was found in P. australis while the highest in E. angustifolium. |
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Keywords: | arsenic Carex rostrata Eriophorum angustifoliium metal release mine tailings Phragmites australis |
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