Comparison of Root‐System Efficiency and Arsenic Uptake of Two Fern Species

Abstract

This greenhouse study examined the root characteristics (biomass, length, area, and diameter) and root uptake efficiency of Pteris vittata, an arsenic (As) hyperaccumulator and Nephrolepis exaltata, not an As hyperaccumulator, in relation to plant uptake of As and nutrients in an As‐contaminated and a control soil. After 8 weeks of growth, on a per plant basis, P. vittata accumulated 7.3–8.8 g of biomass and removed 2.51 mg of As from the As‐contaminated soil compared to 2.4–2.7 g of biomass and 0.09 mg of As for N. exaltata. This was partially because P. vittata developed a more extensive root system, 2.4–3.8 times greater (biomass, length, and area), and possessed a greater proportion of fine roots than N. exaltata. In addition, the As root‐uptake efficiency (defined as As concentrations in plant tissue per unit root) for fronds of P. vittata was 15–23 times greater than that of N. exaltata in both soils. Whereas N. exaltata removed phosphorus (P) more efficiently from the soils, P. vittata removed As more efficiently. The larger root biomass coupled with more efficient root‐uptake systems for As may have contributed to As hyperaccumulation by P. vittata.

Keywords:

• Arsenic uptake
• hyperaccumulation
• phytoremediation
• root
• soil

Acknowledgments

This research was supported in part by National Science Foundation Grant BES‐0132114. The authors gratefully acknowledge the assistance provided by Tom Luongo in sample analysis and proofreading of the manuscript.