'Heavy Metal Accumulation in Flora at the Great Salt Lake' Poster |
Poster: |
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. |
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