Mycorrhizo-Remediation of Lead/Zinc Mine Tailings Using Vetiver: A Field Study

Abstract

A field study of Pb/Zn mine tailings was conducted to assess the influence of AM fungi and refuse compost on phytoremediation using vetiver grass slips. Our investigation revealed that vetiver could thrive on Pb/Zn mine tailings. The addition of refuse compost resulted in biomass that was more than 3-times higher when compared with the control, and were mainly attributed to an improvement of soil properties, as well as better nutrient supply than untreated control. AMF inoculation also significantly increased the dry matter of vetiver by a rate of 8.1–13.8%. It was observed that concentrations of N and P in the shoots were significantly higher in mycorrhizal treatments than those without AMF inoculation. However, AMF inoculation significantly decreased the metal concentrations in root, but not in shoot. Based on the results, it seems clear that AMF can play an essential role in the phytostabilization of metal contaminated soils.

KEY WORDS:

• vetiver grass
• Pb
• Zn
• arbuscular mycorrhiza
• organic matter
• P
• N
• Glomus intraradices
• G. mosseae
• Vetiveria zizanioides

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The authors would like to thank the Research Grants Council, University Grants Committee of Hong Kong, and Mini-AoE Scheme of Hong Kong Baptist University for their financial support (HKBU 2145/04M; RC/AOE/08-09/01).

Notes

*These authors are joint first authors; they contributed equally to this work.