University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU) - Research portal
Gewählte Master / Diploma Thesis:
Peter Karner
(2019):
IMPROVING THE PHYTOMINING EFFICIENCY OF HYPERACCUMULATING PLANTS ON WASTE INCINERATION BOTTOM ASHES AND ON SERPENTINE SOIL.
Master / Diploma Thesis - Institut für Bodenforschung (IBF),
BOKU-Universität für Bodenkultur,
pp 36.
UB BOKU
obvsg
- Abstract:
- Soils are an important basis for life on our planet, but due to anthropogenic pollution or the weathering of metal-rich bedrock, soils may be contaminated with heavy metals (HM). Sludges derived from the incineration of wastes may provide another source of HM. The natural ability of particular plants to accumulate metals, and their use for recovering metals and/or for soil decontamination, is one of the main features of this work. The use of different plant species and different amendments should help to find out, which kind of treatment is the most appropriate one to transfer the HM into the shoot tissues and/or to increase shoot biomass and thus the total metal yield. The aim was to optimize the applied treatments, enhance metal uptake and recover the metal (phytomining). The work was divided into two parts, both with the aim on improving the accumulation of HM nickel (Ni), cadmium (Cd) and zinc (Zn) through mineral fertilizer (MF), effective microorganisms (EM)/mycorrhizal fungi (M) or compost (C). One pot experiment was conducted in the greenhouse with incineration slag and one outdoor pot experiment with serpentine soil. Results showed high losses of the plants in the incineration slag experiment, apparently due to toxicity of the slag. However, the surviving individuals performed differently, depending if they were monocropped or intercropped. In the serpentine soil experiment the addition of amendments was effective for one species (O. chalcidica) while the other species (N. goesingensis) did not respond to the fertilization treatments. The conducted experiments revealed insights in the challenges of phytomining on substrates, which are contaminated through various elements. The feasibility of phytomining on incineration slags is questionable, since healthy growth of the plants is limited. More promising results were found on serpentine soil, where major challenges from the first experiment were obsolete.
- Beurteilende(r): Puschenreiter Markus