PT12 Metals and Bioaccumulation
Exhibit Hall
8:00 AM - Tuesday
(PT166) Screening for native phytoremediators of acid mine drainage.
Brown, L1, MacNeil, J1, 1 Chatham College, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
ABSTRACT- Coal mining fueled the industrial revolution in Pittsburgh and made it the center of steel production in the United States. However, coal mining had devastating consequences on the natural environment, degrading the land with mine spoil and polluting the streams with acid mine drainage. Areas affected by acid mine drainage are characterized by low pH and high concentrations of dissolved metals. Succession and ecosystem establishment on coarsely textured mine spoil may take many years due to the sub-optimal conditions for plant development. Areas that experience high concentrations of heavy metals such as previously mined regions frequently sustain and support plant species that exhibit exceptionally high metal tolerance and thus may prove to be effective phytoremediators. Plants traditionally used to remediate mine soils and AMD have been invasive and aggressive nonnative species. Native plants may prove desirable as phytoremediators because they establish a self-sustaining ecosystem, consistent with the local environment. A field survey of native plants growing on acid mine drainage was conducted to identify species accumulating large concentrations of Fe, Cu, Mn, and Zn in shoot and root tissue. The native Typha latifolia and the nonnatives Polygonum cuspidatum and Pleioblastus viridistriatus growing on AMD amassed exceedingly high levels of iron at their roots. Two native species, Solidago altissima and Aster lateriflorus, both members of the Asterecea family, showed promise as manganese accumulators. Levels of manganese exceeding the reported toxicity threshold of 1500 ppm were present in the shoots of the native species Solidago altissima, Populus sp, Pinus strobus, Pryopteris marginalis, Acer rubrum, and the nonnative Pleioblastus viridistriatus and Alianthus altissima growing on AMD. All these plants were quite healthy and thriving.
Key words: heavy metal, phytoremediation, acid mine drainage, amd