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Heavy Metals in Native Mediterranean Grassland Species Growing at Abandoned Mine Sites: Ecotoxicological Assessment and Phytoremediation of Polluted Soils

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Book cover Heavy Metal Contamination of Soils

Part of the book series: Soil Biology ((SOILBIOL,volume 44))

Abstract

The central Iberian Peninsula has many abandoned mine sites whose topsoil layers (0–10 cm) are highly polluted with metals and other trace elements. Despite this, Mediterranean grassland communities are able to grow in these soils and are grazed by cattle and sheep. Soil composition depends on the mineral tailings present, but most soils show higher than the permitted levels of more than one heavy metal. This study examines Cu, Zn, Pb, Cd, As, Al and Mn levels in the shoots of grass and woody species growing at eight of these old mining sites.

All the species analysed were tolerant to the stress caused by soil pollution in the areas where they grew. Poaceae and Asteraceae emerged as the greater accumulator families; species of the former were especially good at accumulating Cu, Zn, Pb and As. Among these, only Agrostis castellana seems able to hyperaccumulate Zn and Pb, though it can also take up Cu, As, Al and Mn. Our findings provide future direction for studies designed to address the phytoremediation of polluted soils as well as the toxicity of these plants for the animals that consume them.

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Acknowledgements

This study was funded by project grants CTM 2008-04827/TECNO from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation and P2009/AMB-1478 from the EIADES Program of the Comunidad de Madrid. MJGG holded a FPU fellowship (AP2008-02934) awarded by the Spanish Ministry of Education.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biogeochemistry and Microbial Ecology, National Museum of Natural Sciences, CSIC, C/Serrano, 115 bis, 28006, Madrid, Spain

    Mª J. Gutiérrez-Ginés & J. Pastor

  2. Department of Life Sciences, University of Alcalá, Ctra. Madrid-Barcelona, km 33.6, 28871, Alcalá de Henares, Spain

    A. J. Hernández

Authors
  1. Mª J. Gutiérrez-Ginés
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  2. J. Pastor
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  3. A. J. Hernández
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Correspondence to Mª J. Gutiérrez-Ginés .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Allgemeine Botanik und Pflanzenphysiologie, Universität Jena, Jena, Germany

    Irena Sherameti

  2. Amity Institute of Microbial Technology, Amity University Uttar Pradesh, Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India

    Ajit Varma

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Gutiérrez-Ginés, M.J., Pastor, J., Hernández, A.J. (2015). Heavy Metals in Native Mediterranean Grassland Species Growing at Abandoned Mine Sites: Ecotoxicological Assessment and Phytoremediation of Polluted Soils. In: Sherameti, I., Varma, A. (eds) Heavy Metal Contamination of Soils. Soil Biology, vol 44. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-14526-6_9

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