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Abstract
The potential role of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) in the revegetation of an alkaline gold mine tailing was studied in Barberton, South Africa. The tailing, characterized by a slow spontaneous plant succession, is colonized by the shrub Dodonaea viscosa and the grasses, Andropogon eucomus and Imperata cylindrica, all colonized by AMF. The effectiveness of mycorrhizal colonization in grasses was tested under laboratory conditions using fungal isolates of various origins. Both grasses were highly mycorrhiza dependent, and the presence of mycorrhizal colonization significantly increased their biomass and survival rates. The fungi originating from the gold tailing were better adapted to the special conditions of the tailing than the control isolate. Although the total colonization rate found for native fungi was lower than for fungi from non-polluted sites, they were more vital and more effective in promoting plant growth. The results obtained might serve as a practical approach to the phytostabilization of alkaline gold tailings.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This study is part of a joint South African and Polish project supported by the NRF and Polish State Committee for Scientific Research. The financial assistance of the South African National Research Foundation (NRF) towards this research is hereby acknowledged. Opinions expressed and conclusions arrived at, are those of the authors and are not necessarily to be attributed to the NRF. The authors greatly acknowledge African Pioneer Mining (Pty) Ltd in Barberton and Gold and Environmental Technology, MINTEK in Randburg. Thanks are due to Prof. Douglas Zook (Boston University, USA) and Dr. A. Jurkiewicz (Aarhus University, DK) for the comments on this manuscript.