Copper tolerance and copper accumulation of herbaceous plants colonizing inactive California copper mines
- Department of Environmental Horticulture, University of California, Davis (United States)
Herbaceous plant species colonizing four copper mine waste sites in northern California were investigated for copper tolerance and copper accumulation. Copper tolerance was found in plant species colonizing soils with high concentrations of soil copper. Seven of the eight plant species tested were found at more than one copper mine. The mines are geographically isolated, which makes dispersal of seeds from one mine to another unlikely. Tolerance has probably evolved independently at each site. The nontolerant field control population of Vulpia microstachya displays significantly higher tolerance to copper at all copper concentration levels tested than the nontolerant Vulpia myrous population, and the degree of copper tolerance attained by V. microstachya at the two copper mines was much greater than that found in V. myrous. It suggests that even in these two closely related species, the innate tolerance in their nontolerant populations may reflect their potential for evolution of copper tolerance and their ability to initially colonize copper mine waste sites. The shoot tissue of the copper mine plants of Arenaria douglasii, Bromous mollis, and V. microstachya accumulated less copper than those plants of the same species from the field control sites when the two were grown in identical conditions in nutrient solution containing copper. The root tissue of these mine plants contain more copper than the roots of the nonmine plants. This result suggests that exclusion of copper from the shoots, in part by immobilization in the roots, may be a feature of copper tolerance. No difference in the tissue copper concentration was detected between tolerant and nontolerant plants of Lotus purshianus, Lupinus bicolor, and Trifolium pratense even though the root tissue had more copper than the leaves.
- OSTI ID:
- 7067294
- Journal Information:
- Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety; (United States), Journal Name: Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety; (United States) Vol. 23:3; ISSN EESAD; ISSN 0147-6513
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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540220* -- Environment
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63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
BIOLOGICAL ACCUMULATION
BIOLOGICAL VARIABILITY
CALIFORNIA
CONTAMINATION
COPPER
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
ECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
ELEMENTS
GENETIC VARIABILITY
HERBS
LAND POLLUTION
METALS
MINING
NORTH AMERICA
PLANTS
POLLUTION
SOILS
TOLERANCE
TRANSITION ELEMENTS
USA