Growth, biomass, and heavy metal accumulation of three woody species seedlings following fertilization in soils of abandoned metalliferous mines

To select tree species and fertilization treatments for phytoremediation of abandoned metalliferous mines in Korea, seedlings of Pinus densiflora, Robinia pseudoacacia and Amorpha fruticosa were planted in pots with forest soils (M0), high As soil from Geumjeong mine (M1) and high Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn soils from Gahak mine (M2) in April, 2005, and were treated with different fertilizers. Four different fertilization treatments (O: Organic fertilizer (N:P:K:OM:zeolite = 4:2:1:70:23), S: Solid combination fertilizer (N:P:K = 3:4:1), OS: Organic plus solid combination fertilizer, and C: Control) were applied once a year and then growth, biomass, and heavy metal contents in seedlings were measured in August, 2006. In M0, there were no significant differences in seedling growth among the treatments for the three species. In M1, seedling growth was highest in the OS treatment for R. pseudoacacia, and was highest in the O treatment for A. fruticosa. Biomass was highest in the O treatment for A. fruticosa, and was highest in the OS treatment for the other species. On the other hand, in M2, seedling growth was highest in the O treatment for R. pseudoacacia, and was highest in the OS treatment for A. fruticosa. Biomass was highest in the OS treatment for A. fruticosa, and was highest in the O treatment for the other species. The highest heavy metal content in seedling was 19.4mg/tree in the O treatment of R. pseudoacacia for As, 2.8mg/tree in the O treatment of R. pseudoacacia for Cd, 17.5mg/tree in the O treatment of P. densiflora for Cu, 23.7mg/tree in the OS treatment of A. fruticosa for Pb, and 98.6mg/tree in the O treatment of R. pseudoacacia for Zn, respectively. These results suggested that organic fertilizers would be necessary to increase early growth and heavy metal content in the seedlings in abandoned metalliferous mines in the region.