Vegetative response of Sagittaria lancifolia to burning of applied crude oil

• Published in: Water, air, and soil pollution air, and soil pollution, 2000-07, Vol.121 (1-4), p.161-172
• Main Authors: LINDAU, C. W, DELAUNE, R. D
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Air pollution; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Applied ecology; Applied sciences; Biological and medical sciences; Biomarkers; Burning; Burns; Combustion; Crude oil; Crude oil, natural gas and petroleum products; Crude petroleum; Decontamination. Miscellaneous; Earth sciences; Earth, ocean, space; Ecotoxicology, biological effects of pollution; Effects of pollution and side effects of pesticides on plants and fungi; Energy; Engineering and environment geology. Geothermics; Environmental monitoring; Exact sciences and technology; Fuels; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Marine biology; Marshes; Migration; Oil; Oil and gas fields; Plant growth; Plants (botany); Plants (organisms); Pollution; Pollution caused by production, transportation and treatment of oil and oil shales. Water and soil pollution. Treatments. Pollution control; Pollution, environment geology; Recovery; Remediation; Sagittaria; Sagittaria lancifolia; Sensitivity analysis; Soil and sediments pollution; Soil pollution; Sprayers; Sprays; Stems
• ISSN: 0049-6979; 1573-2932
• DOI: 10.1023/a:1005284530282

Field studies were conducted to evaluate Sagittarialancifolia sensitivity to in-situ burning of appliedcrude oil. Twenty-four plots were constructed (2.4 2.4 0.6 m) in a fresh marsh and experimental treatmentswere: 1) control (no oiling and/or burning); 2) oiling (naturalremediation); and 3) oiling plus burning. South Louisiana Crudewas applied at 2 L m super(-2), with a garden sprayer, on Sagittaria lancifolia stems and leaves of the oiling andoiling/burning treatment plots. Two marsh burns were conducted,one in August (Site A) and a second on separate plotsthe following April (Site B) to compare seasonal effects ofoiling and burning. Burning was initiated three days after oilapplication when the marsh was flooded to a 15-25 cm depth andwinds were calm. Live stem count, plant height growth and carbonfixation were measured up to 9 times over 52 weeks after thefirst burn (August) and 6 times over 19 weeks after the secondin-situ burn (April). Aboveground biomass was measured atthe conclusion of each study. Oil application and oil burninghad short term effects on Sagittaria lancifoliavegetation. Five to six weeks after each burn, measured Sagittaria lancifolia vegetative parameters in control, oiledand oiled/burned plots were not significantly different. Onlybiomass clipped 20 weeks after the April burn showed significanttreatment differences. Under our experimental conditions, datasuggests leaving oil to degrade and the marsh to recovernaturally may be an option to consider. Plant recovery inoiled/burned plots was as rapid as oiled plant recovery. Thissuggests burning may be a viable remediation method if a rapidresponse is needed to remove oil and control oil migration tosensitive areas.