Research Article - Journal of Agricultural Science and Botany (2018) Volume 2, Issue 2

Uptake of As, Cd, Cu, Fe, Mn, Pb, and Zn in pasture grasses on three metal contaminated soils from Montana

Successful phytoremediation contaminated mine land soils require the identification of plant species that with wide-spread adaptation to multiple ecological sites that exclude or uptake heavy metals of interest. This study observed metal uptake of arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), magnesium (Mn), lead (Pb) and zinc (Zn) in forage (mg kg^-1 DM) of alfalfa and nine other dryland and irrigates grass species when grown on soil from Clarks Fork, Cabbage Gulch, and Keating mine sites in Montana. On the Clarks Fork soil, increased tissue concentrations of As, Cd, Cu, and Zn; were greater than observed in normal plant tissue. However, bio-concentration factors (BCF) were < 1 in all plant materials in the study, suggesting that under these soil conditions they may not be good options for phytoextraction. BCF >1 in crested wheatgrass, intermediate wheatgrass, meadow and smooth brome grasses, Russian wildrye, tall wheatgrass, orchardgrass, and tall fescue suggest that these species have the ability to uptake Cd particularly on soils with pH levels of 5.01 and 4.26 found Cabbage Gulch and Keating soils compared to more basic Clarks Fork soil. Observed BCF >1 in Hycrest II crested wheatgrass, AI intermediate wheatgrass, Regar and Cache meadow bromegrass, Manchar smooth bromegrass, NewHy RS-hybrid wheatgrass, Bozoisky II Russian wildrye Alkar tall wheatgrass, Paiute and UTDG-101 orchardgrass, and Fawn tall fescue for Mn accumulation warrants further investigation as another option Mn phytoextraction. Only RS-H RS-hybrid wheatgrass had a Zn BCF >1 and may be a candidate for Zn accumulation.

Author(s): Lan Yun, Kevin B Jensen*, Steven R Larson, Blair L Waldron

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