Evaluation of connected clonal growth of Solidago chilensis as an avoidance mechanism in copper-polluted soils.

Plant resistance to metals can be achieved by two strategies, tolerance and avoidance. Although metal tolerance has been broadly studied in terrestrial plants, avoidance has been less considered as a strategy to cope with soil metal pollution. Avoidance may be an effective alternative in herbaceous plants with connected clonal growth in environments having high heterogeneity in soil micro-spatial distribution of available metals and other soil conditions (i.e. organic matter). In this study, we performed a laboratory experiment on clonal growth of Solidago chilensis when exposed to copper-spiked soils (800 mg kg-1) at different depths (0, 2, 5 and 8 cm depth), with (20%) and without addition of organic matter to mimic contrasting microhabitats found at smelter hinterlands (i.e. open bare ground and microhabitats below shrubs). Results showed that plants grown in the 2 cm-depth Cu-spiked soils were able to growth and produce ramets and rhizomes. However, increased Cu uptake of plants determined phytotoxic effects and a reduction in clonal spread in the 5 cm- and 8 cm-depth Cu-spiked soils. Addition of organic matter to the Cu-spiked soil layers allowed clonal spread. Considering that ramet and rhizome production is decreased but not inhibited when copper pollution is restricted to the uppermost soil layer (2 cm depth) and that organic matter eliminated soil copper toxicity allowing normal clonal spread, connected clonal growth may be an effective avoidance mechanism of Solidago chilensis, particularly in environments with high heterogeneity in micro-spatial distribution of metals and organic matter in the soil profile and between microhabitats.

Lime and compost promote plant re-colonization of metal-polluted, acidic soils.

The revegetation of soils affected by historic depositions of an industrial complex in Central Chile was studied. The plant re-colonization from the existing soil seed bank and changes in the physico-chemical properties of the soil were evaluated in field plots amended with lime and/or compost. We found that the application of lime and/or compost decreased the Cu2+ ion activity in the soil solution and the exchangeable Cu in the soil, showing an effective Cu immobilization in the topsoil. Whereas lime application had no effect on plant productivity in comparison with the unamended control, the application of compost and lime+compost increased the plant cover and aboveground biomass due to the higher nutrient availability and water-holding capacity of the compost-amended soils. Although the Cu2+ activity and the exchangeable Cu were markedly lower in the amended soils than in the unamended control, the shoot Cu concentrations of Lolium spp. and Eschscholzia californica did not differ between the treatments.