Screening of Native Plants Growing on a Pb/Zn Mining Area in Eastern Morocco: Perspectives for Phytoremediation

Said El Hasnaoui (1) , Mouna Fahr (1) , Catherine Keller (2) , Clément Levard (2) , Bernard Angeletti (2) , Perrine Chaurand (2) , Zine El Abidine Triqui (1) , Abdelkarim Guedira (1) , Laila Rhazi (1) , Fabrice Colin (2) , Abdelaziz Smouni (1)

1 UM5 - Université Mohammed V de Rabat [Agdal]
2 CEREGE - Centre européen de recherche et d'enseignement des géosciences de l'environnement

Screening of native plant species from mining sites can lead to identify suitable plants for phytoremediation approaches. In this study, we assayed heavy metals tolerance and accumulation in native and dominant plants growing on abandoned Pb/Zn mining site in eastern Morocco. Soil samples and native plants were collected and analyzed for As, Cd, Cu, Ni, Sb, Pb, and Zn concentrations. Bioconcentration factor (BCF), translocation factor (TF), and biological accumulation coefficient (BAC) were determined for each element. Our results showed that soils present low organic matter content combined with high levels of heavy metals especially Pb and Zn due to past extraction activities. Native and dominant plants sampled in these areas were classified into 14 species and eight families. Principal components analysis separated Artemisia herba-alba with high concentrations of As, Cd, Cu, Ni, and Pb in shoots from other species. Four plant species, namely, Reseda alba, Cistus libanotis, Stipa tenacissima, and Artemisia herba-alba showed strong capacity to tolerate and hyperaccumulate heavy metals, especially Pb, in their tissues. According to BCF, TF, and BAC, these plant species could be used as effective plants for Pb phytoextraction. Stipa tenacissima and Artemisia herba-alba are better suited for phytostabilization of Cd/Cu and Cu/Zn, respectively. Our study shows that several spontaneous and native plants growing on Pb/Zn contaminated sites have a good potential for developing heavy metals phytoremediation strategies.

Keywords: phytoextraction; phytostabilization; native plants; heavy metal; hyperaccumulation; tolerance; Pb/Zn mining area

Domains: Environmental Sciences; Environmental and Society; Environmental Sciences; Global Changes; Environmental Sciences; Environmental Engineering; Chemical Sciences; Material chemistry; Chemical Sciences; Inorganic chemistry

Said El Hasnaoui, Mouna Fahr, Catherine Keller, Clément Levard, Bernard Angeletti, et al.. Screening of Native Plants Growing on a Pb/Zn Mining Area in Eastern Morocco: Perspectives for Phytoremediation. Plants, 2020, 9 (11), pp.1-23. ⟨10.3390/plants9111458⟩. ⟨hal-02985696⟩