Chelate-assisted phytoextraction: Growth and ecophysiological responses by Salix schwerinii E.L Wolf grown in artificially polluted soils

Abstract

The present study investigated the phytoextraction ability of Salix schwerinii E.L. Wolf enhanced with an application of the chelate N10O. Salix schwerinii were grown in garden soil that was also amended with Cu (400 mg kg−1), Ni (30 mg kg−1) and Zn (200 mg kg−1). Multiple doses of N10O were applied to the treatments as follows: Cu (3.45 g and 6.9 g), Ni (1.2 g and 2.4 g), and Zn (1.45 g and 2.9 g). Furthermore, N10O doses were also repeated with the control soil. The effect of N10O on height growth, biomass production, ecophysiological attributes, and the accumulation of metals (Cu, Ni, and Zn) in Salix in polluted soils was studied. Compared to the control, the total metal concentrations in S. schwerinii growing in the soils amended with N10O increased substantially by up to 895% for Cu, 324% for Ni and 722% for Zn. The translocation factor (TF) and bioconcentration factor (BF) values for S. schwerinii increased with the application of N10O and varied from 0.30–1.01 for Cu, 0.45–1.25 for Ni, and 4.40–5.89 for Zn, whereas, BF values varied from 0.60–1.15 for Cu, 0.80–1.50 for Ni, and 4–8 for Zn. This study indicated that S. schwerinii can be used for phytoextraction of Cu, Ni and Zn from contaminated soils. However, further research is needed to examine the phytoextraction potential of other Salix species using N10O to remediate soils polluted with various toxic metals.