Phytoremediation potential and ecological and phenological changes of native pioneer plants from weathered oil spill-impacted sites at tropical wetlands

• Published in: Environmental science and pollution research international 2016-08, Vol.23 (16), p.16359-16371
• Main Authors: Palma-Cruz, Felipe de J., Pérez-Vargas, Josefina, Rivera Casado, Noemí Araceli, Gómez Guzmán, Octavio, Calva-Calva, Graciano
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aquatic Pollution; Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution; Biodegradation, Environmental; Biodiversity; Cyperus; Cyperus esculentus; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecology; Ecotoxicology; Environment; Environmental Chemistry; Environmental Health; Environmental Monitoring; Flowers & plants; Greenhouses; Hydrocarbons; Indigenous plants; Indigenous species; Investigations; Laxus; Ludwigia peploides; Native species; Oil pollution; Oil spills; Petroleum; Petroleum hydrocarbons; Petroleum Pollution; Phenology; Phytoremediation; Plant communities; Plant species; Plants; Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; Research Article; Soil; Soil contamination; Soil Microbiology; Soil Pollutants - analysis; Soil pollution; Soils; Waste Water Technology; Water Management; Water Pollutants, Chemical - analysis; Water Pollution Control; Weather; Wetlands
• ISSN: 0944-1344; 1614-7499
• DOI: 10.1007/s11356-016-6675-4

Pioneer native plant species from weathered oil spill-affected sites were selected to study their potential for phytoremediation on the basis of their ecological and phenological changes during the phytoremediation process. Experiments were conducted in field and in greenhouse. In field, native plants from aged oil spill-impacted sites with up 400 g of weathered petroleum hydrocarbons per kilogram soil were selected. In the impacted sites, the principal dominant plant species with potential for hydrocarbons removal were Cyperus laxus , Cyperus esculentus , and Ludwigia peploides . In greenhouse, the phenology of the selected plant species was drastically affected by the hydrocarbons level above 325 g total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) per kilogram soil after 2 years of phytoremediation of soils from the aged oil spill-impacted sites. From the phytoremediation treatments, a mix-culture of C. laxus , C. esculentus , and L. peploides in soil containing 325 g TPH/kg soil, from which 20.3 % were polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and 34.2 % were asphaltenes (ASF), was able to remove up 93 % of the TPH, while in unvegetated soil the TPH removal was 12.6 %. Furthermore, evaluation of the biodiversity and life forms of plant species in the impacted sites showed that phytoremediation with C. esculentus , alone or in a mix-culture with C. laxus and L. peploides , reduces the TPH to such extent that the native plant community was progressively reestablished by replacing the cultivated species resulting in the ecological recovery of the affected soil. These results demonstrate that native Cyperus species from weathered oil spill-affected sites, specifically C. esculentus and C. laxus , alone or in a mix-culture, have particular potential for phytoremediation of soils from tropical wetlands contaminated with weathered oil hydrocarbons.