Soil aluminium uptake and accumulation by Paspalum notatum

Abstract

Paspalum notatum Flugge has been widely utilized for the purpose of ecological restoration of degraded land in the tropics and subtropics, where soil active aluminium (Al) is usually high as a result of acidification. Pot experiments were conducted to determine Al toxicity on P. notatum and to compare its potential to remove Al with another three plant species, Vetiveria zizanioides, Tristania conferta and Schima wallichii. In the Al addition experiment, the biomass of P. notatum and Al accumulation significantly decreased as the added Al concentration increased, but Al concentration in the plant markedly increased. A parallel experiment was conducted with the above four species, grown in lateritic soil and in oil shale waste containing high concentration of active Al. The biomasses of all four species were reduced obviously in the waste compared to in the soil. The effects of substrate on Al concentration, accumulation and translocation efficiency differed among species, and plants had significantly higher Al accumulation factors when grown in the soil than in the waste. Most of the Al taken up by P. notatum was transferred to above-ground parts; as a result, Al concentration in stems and leaves became quite high, over 1000 or even 3000 mg kg(-1); whereas for the other three species, Al concentration in shoots was much lower than in roots. Paspalum notatum was therefore much higher than the other three species with regard to Al translocation efficiency and therefore P. notatum may be regarded as both an effective Al hyper-accumulator and a potential Al hyper-remover.