The Bioaccumulative Potential of Heavy Metals in Five Forest Species Living in Mining Environments in the Ecuadorian Amazon Region.

Abstract

Heavy metal contamination of soils and ecosystems is an environmental problem that requires urgent attention due to the ecological problems that it generates. Forest species can be used to mitigate contamination because of their potential to bioaccumulate contaminating metals. The objective of this work was to evaluate the bioaccumulator potential of heavy metals in five forest species that live in mining environments in the Ecuadorian Amazon region. The bioconcentration factor for five forest species, such as: Cedrela odorata, Parkia multijuga, Inga edulis, Cecropia ficifolia and Pourouma cecropiifolia, commonly found in the Ecuadorian Amazon was analysed, based on the relationship between the concentration of the heavy metal in leaves and the soil. Atomic absorption spectrometry was used to analyse heavy metals in leaves and soil samples of each plant specie. The results showed that P. cecropiifolia had the highest bioconcentration factor for lead, C. odorata for cadmium and nickel, and I. edulis had the highest potential for iron and aluminium absorption. No correlation was found between the concentration of each element in the soil and the leaves, which shows that the bioaccumulation capacity of the species studied does not depend on the concentration of the element in the soil. This provides relevant information for the inclusion of these species for phytoremediation purposes.