Bioacumulation Potentials of Selected Tree Species in Heavy Metal Contaminated Soil
Abstract
Bioaccumulation potentials of some selected tree species (Tectona grandis, Gmelina arborea, Shorea roxburghii, Terminalia ivorensis and Terminalia superba) were assessed from heavy metal contaminated soils in a screen house study. The experiment was a 3 × 5 factorial treatment laid out in Completely Randomized Design. The factors were three levels of contamination (control, double permissible and triple permissible) and five tree species. Data collected include; physical and chemical properties of the soil and metal accumulation in roots, stems and the leaves of the tree species. These were subjected to analysis of variance, while, significantly different means were separated using Duncan Multiple Range Test (P ≤ 0.05). The results at 16 months after transplanting (MAT) showed that, S. roxborghi at the control level significantly (P ≤ 0.01) accumulated more Mn (76.38mgkg-1) in its stem compared to other species. A significant level of Pb (0.006mgkg-1) was also obtained in the leaves of Terminalia ivorensis at triple contamination level, while, Gmelina arborea accumulated highest concentrations (7.55mgkg-1) in its stem at the control level compared to other species. Moreover, highest accumulation of Cu (7.65mgkg-1) was obtained in Terminalia ivorensis at triple contamination level. Meanwhile, there was no significant difference between Zn and Cd accumulated in the leaves, stems and roots of the tree species throughout the period of investigation. Terminalia ivorensis, therefore, has been found to possess a high metal accumulation potential especially at toxic contamination levels compared to other species considered.
NAJ supports free online communication and exchange of knowledge as the most effective way of ensuring that the fruits of research and development practice are made widely available. It is therefore committed to open access, which, for authors, enables the widest possible dissemination of their findings and, for readers, increases their ability to discover pertinent information. The Journal adopts and uses the CC: BY license and is open access. This license lets others distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon your work, even commercially, as long as they credit you for the original creation. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the Journal’s published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work. Copyright for articles published in this Journal is retained by the Journal.