Heavy Metal Accumulation in Flora at the Great Salt Lake
Location
Logan Golf & Country Club, Logan, UT
Start Date
3-26-2019 5:00 PM
End Date
3-26-2019 7:00 PM
Description
The Great Salt Lake wetlands are critical habitat for millions of migrating birds along the Pacific Flyway. However, heavy metal pollution in the GSL from human activities such as mining has led to concerns about metal contamination and its potential risks to migrating birds. Phytoremediation is one potential solution for extracting and removing heavy metals stored in GSL wetland soils. The goal of this study was to quantify heavy metal uptake by six different species of wetland plants (Salicornia rubra, Typha latifolia, Phragmites australis, Schoenoplectus acutus, Schoenoplectus americanus, and Bolboschoenus maritimus) in the GSL wetlands. We calculated the concentration of heavy metals in the sediment, metal uptake factors for each plant species, and total metal uptake in aboveground plant biomass for lead, cadmium, mercury, selenium, arsenic, and copper. Our results showed that no single plant species can take up all six metals and that the best performing species for metal accumulation varied by metal type. Furthermore, our results showed that all six species of plants were needed to maximize heavy metal accumulation for all six metals. These results suggest that wetland plant species diversity is important for heavy metal accumulation and phytoremediation in GSL wetlands.
Heavy Metal Accumulation in Flora at the Great Salt Lake
Logan Golf & Country Club, Logan, UT
The Great Salt Lake wetlands are critical habitat for millions of migrating birds along the Pacific Flyway. However, heavy metal pollution in the GSL from human activities such as mining has led to concerns about metal contamination and its potential risks to migrating birds. Phytoremediation is one potential solution for extracting and removing heavy metals stored in GSL wetland soils. The goal of this study was to quantify heavy metal uptake by six different species of wetland plants (Salicornia rubra, Typha latifolia, Phragmites australis, Schoenoplectus acutus, Schoenoplectus americanus, and Bolboschoenus maritimus) in the GSL wetlands. We calculated the concentration of heavy metals in the sediment, metal uptake factors for each plant species, and total metal uptake in aboveground plant biomass for lead, cadmium, mercury, selenium, arsenic, and copper. Our results showed that no single plant species can take up all six metals and that the best performing species for metal accumulation varied by metal type. Furthermore, our results showed that all six species of plants were needed to maximize heavy metal accumulation for all six metals. These results suggest that wetland plant species diversity is important for heavy metal accumulation and phytoremediation in GSL wetlands.