Assessment of trace element and macronutrient accumulation capacity of two native plant species in three different Egyptian mine areas for remediation of contaminated soils

Abstract

Abstract The present study aimed to compare the ability of Conyza bonariensis and Amaranthus viridis to accumulate macronutrients: nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium (NPK) and trace elements (TEs) in their underground and aboveground tissues from the soils in the mining areas. The plant parts and their soils were collected from three sites (El-Gedida mining ore site (S1), accommodation of mining workers (S2) and Harra Oasis (S3)) at Bahariya Oasis, as the Libyan part of the Western Desert in Egypt. In C. bonariensis, photosynthetic pigments and flavonoids showed a significant increase at S1 at which the shoots accumulated high amounts of TE(s) whereas, the same photosynthetic pigment fractions showed a significant increase in S3 at which the shoots accumulated the least amounts of TE(s) for A. viridis. For A. viridis flavonoids showed a significant increase at S1 (higher accumulation of TEs in shoots). C. bonariensis accumulated the higher concentrations of macronutrients in tissues than A. viridis. The translocation factors of both species varied among the TEs as well as among the different studied sites. This indicates that C. bonariensis plants tolerated toxic TE(s) stress present in the mining area which enhances the hypothesis that this plant could be used as a successful tool for phytoremediation of toxic TE(s) in polluted areas.