Reuse of heavy metal-accumulating Cynondon dactylon in remediation of water contaminated by heavy metals

Phytoremediation technology is regarded as a simple and efficient way to remove heavy metals from contaminated soil. A reasonable disposal of metal hyperaccumulators is always and resource-saving. The a major issue in waste reuse heavy metal-accumulating Cynondon dactylon （L.） was investigated where heavy metals were desorbed by a facile acid-treatment. The result indicated that more than 90% of heavy metals （Zn, Pb and Cu） was extracted from Cynondon daetylon with 0.2 mmol· L^-1 HCl. The plant residue was used to adsorb heavy metals ions. The adsorption fitted the Langmuir isotherm model with the saturation adsorption capacity of 9.5 mg·g^-1 Zn^2＋, 36.2 mg·g^-1 Pb2＋ and 12.9 mg·g^-1 Cu^2＋, and the surface eomplexation and the backfilling of heavy metal imprinting cavities existed simultaneously during the adsorption. The treatment of wastewaters indicated that the plant residue exhibited a high removal rate of 97% for Cu. Also, the material could be recycled. The method offers a new disposal approach for heavy metal hyperaccumulator.     

Forage production and quality as influenced by amended quartz sand-tailings following phosphate mining

Quartz-sand tailings is a waste product from the Florida phosphate mining industry. Individual tailings disposal areas may occupy 20 to 60 ha and support no vegetation. A split plot field experiment was conducted on a sand tailings deposit to study the effect of various amendments on yield, quality, and mineral concentrations of Callie bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon var.aridus Harlan et de Wet) and Siratro [Macroptilium atropurpureum (DC) Urb]. The two species were established on nine treatments: one sand-tailings control (SC); three with air-dried phosphatic clay (PC) at 110, 225, and 340 Mg ha^-1; and three with overburden (OB) at 448, 1,120, and 1,800 Mg ha^-1. All PC and OB treatment rates contained air-dried sewage sludge (SS) at 45 Mg ha^-1 and were all roto-tilled to a 20 to 25 cm depth. There were two additional treatments of OB at 1800 Mg ha^-1 without SS, with and without roto-tilling into sand tailings. Callie established slower (P<0.05) on SC and OB, than on treatments containing SS and/or PC. However, after the root system developed, yields were similar on all sand-tailings treatments. Crude protein andin vitro organic matter digestion for Callie and Siratro did not differ between soil treatments, but Siratro was generally superior to Callie in forage quality. Forage concentrations of P, K, Ca. Mg, Mn, and Zn were adequate in both species for good cattle growth on all treatments. However, Cu tended to be low in Siratro for plant and cattle growth. Once root systems were well established, good yields of quality forage with suitable mineral concentrations were produced on regularly fertilized, quartz-sand tailings.Contribution of the University of Florida Agric. Res. and Ed. Ctr., Ona, FL 33865, and Soil Sci. Dept., Univ. of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611 as Journal Series No. 5575.     

Influence of Landfill Gas on the Microdistribution of Grass Establishment Through Natural Colonization

Many revegetated landfills have poor cover including bare areas where plants do not grow. This study, on the Bisasar Road Landfill site in South Africa, assessed grass species preferences to microhabitat conditions in a mosaic of patches of well-established grassed areas and bare, nonvegetated areas. Factors, including soil CO₂, CH₄, O₂, nutrients, and other general soil conditions, were measured in relation to species distribution and grass biomass in the field. Cynodon dactylon was the dominant grass in the established grass areas but was less abundant in the areas bordering the bare areas where Paspalum paspalodes and Sporobolus africanus were common. A number of soil factors measured were significantly correlated with grass biomass and these included Mg, Ca, Zn, Mn, K, temperature, moisture, and CO₂. However, a laboratory bioassay using the growth of C. dactylon with soils removed from the landfill indicated that there were no differences in the soils from the bare areas and those that supported high plant biomass. Thus, no nutrient deficiency or chemical toxicity was inherent in the soil in the laboratory. The results of the field investigation and bioassay indicated that soil CO₂ as a result of landfill gas infiltration into the root zone was probably the main factor causing bare areas on the landfill where no grass species could colonize and grow and that C. dactylon was more sensitive to elevated soil CO₂ than other grass species such as P. paspalodes and S. africanus.     

Bioaccumulation of Trace Elements in a Wild Grass Three Years After the Aznalcóllar Mine Spill (South Spain)

In this paper, we surveyed the concentration of nine trace elements (As, Cd, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, Tl and Zn) in bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon) 3 years after the mine spill in Aznalcóllar (south Spain). The results were compared with those that had been obtained for the same species in a previous study, 18 months after the accident. Three types of soil condition were determined: i) unaffected soils (UN, control); ii) cleaned up and amended soils (A, amended); and (iii) non-amended soils, inaccessible to the clean-up and remediation operations (NA, non-amended). The trace element concentrations in the plants were lower than those reported in the first sampling for both washed (plant tissues) and unwashed plants (as consumed by herbivores). Apart from Cd, trace elements concentrations (plant tissues) were similar in the A and the UN soils. In the NA soils, the Cd, Fe, Mn, Zn and Pb levels in unwashed plants were excessive for animal consumption. This wild grass seems to be suitable as a soil stabilizer for spill affected soils and as a biomonitor for soil pollution by some trace elements (As, Cu and Zn); however, its potential for phytoextraction is negligible.     

Accumulation of heavy metals in four grasses grown on lead and zinc mine tailings

A field experiment was conducted to compare the growth and metal accumulation of Vetiveria zizanioides, Paspalum notatum, Cynodon dactylon and Imperata cylindraca var. major on the tailings, amended with 10 cm domestic refuse complex NPK fertilizer(Treatment A), 10 cm domestic refuse(Treatment B) and complex NPK fertilizer(Treatment C) respectively, and without any amendment used as control (Treatment D). The results indicated that V. zizanioides was a typical heavy metal excluder, because the concentrations in shoots of the plants were the lowest among the four plants tested. The most of metal accumulated in V. zizanioides distributed in its root, and transportation of metal in this plant from root to shoot was restricted. Therefore, V. zizanioides was more suitable for phytostabilization of toxic mined lands than P. notatum and C. dactylon, which accumulated a relatively high level of metals in their shoots and roots. It was also found that I. cylindraca var. major accumulated lower amounts of Pb, Zn and Cu than C. dactylon and P. notatum, and could also be considered for phytostaliUsaton of tailings. Although the metal(Pb, Zn and Cu) concentrations in shoots and roots of V. zizanioides were the lowest, the total amounts of heavy metals accumulated in shoots of V. zizanioides were the highest among the four tested plants due to the highest dry weight yield of it. The results indicated that V. zizanioides was the best choice among the four species used for phytoremediation (for both phytostabilization and phytoextraction) of metal contaminated soils.     

水位变化对三峡库区低位狗牙根种群的影响

2009年调查研究了三峡库区长寿段消落带的狗牙根（Cynodon dactylon L．）种群,探讨了库区水位变化对低位狗牙根种群的影响。结果表明,156m处狗牙根地下茎的总茎长、总茎节数和总茎节数／总茎长大于150m处的狗牙根,分别比后者多20．3％、30．1％、11．3％;而其地下茎的总芽数／总茎长、萌芽数和萌芽率分别比后者低7．5％、34．3％、74．9％。同时,156m处狗牙根分株的株数、茎长、叶宽、叶长低于150m处的狗牙根,分别比后者少了26．2％、10．8％、19．0％、37．9％;其茎节数、茎节数／茎长、叶片数、根长较大,分别比后者增加了18．7％、34．2％、10．0％、22．6％。156m处狗牙根植株分株的鲜质量、干质量、鲜质量／总鲜质量、干质量／总干质量分别比150m处的狗牙根低32．5％、13．2％、18．2％和14．2％;其地下茎的鲜质量、干质量、鲜质量／总鲜质量、干质量／总干质量分别比后者高5．8％、17．5％、27．2％、15．2％;且前者的分株、地下茎和根的干鲜质量比均分别比后者高29．6％、12．5％和17．6％。表明,库区水位变化显著促进了150m处狗牙根地下茎茎节伸长、芽形成、芽萌发和分株的生长。因而,低位狗牙根对库区水位变化具有较强的适应能力。     

The enhancement of photodegradation efficiency using Pt-TiO2 catalyst

The residues from the extraction of lead/zinc (Pb/Zn) ores of most Pb/Zn mines are permanently stored in tailings ponds, which require revegetation to reduce their environmental impact. This can only be done if the main constraints on plant establishment are evaluated. This can readily be done by field and greenhouse studies.

To test this, the properties of different tailings from Lechang Pb/Zn mine located at the north of Guangdong Province in southern China have been studied. Physical and chemical properties including concentrations of metals (Pb, Zn, Cd and Cu) in the tailings and soils collected from different sites have been measured. The results showed that tailings contain low nitrogen (0.016–0.075%), low-organic matter (0.58–1.78%), high salt (3.55–13.85 dS/m), and high total and diethylene–tetramine–pentaacetic acid (DTPA)-extractable metal concentrations (total: 1019–1642 μg g⁻¹ Pb, 3078–6773 μg g⁻¹ Zn, 8–23 μg g⁻¹ Cd, and 85–192 μg g⁻¹ Cu; DTPA-extractable: 59–178 μg g⁻¹ Pb, 21–200 μg g⁻¹ Zn, 0.30–1.5 μg g⁻¹ Cd, and 4.3–12 μg g⁻¹ Cu). Aqueous extracts of tailings/soils (10%, 20% and 30%, w/v) from different sites were prepared for testing their effects on seed germination and root elongation of a vegetable crop Brassica chinensis and a grass species Cynodon dactylon. It was found that root elongation provided a better evaluation of toxicity than seed germination. The ranking of toxicity using root elongation was: high-sulfur tailings>tailingdam>sparsely vegetated tailings>densely vegetated tailings>mountain soil for both plants. This order was consistent with DTPA-extractable Pb contents in the tailings and soils. B. chinensis seedlings were then grown in the mixtures of different proportions of tailings and farm soil for 4 weeks, and the results (dry weights of seedlings) were in line with the root elongation test. All these demonstrated that heavy metal toxicity, especially available Pb, low content of nutrient, and poor physical structure were major constraints on plant establishment and colonization on the Pb/Zn mine tailings.