Screening of Native Hyperaccumulators at the Huayuan River Contaminated by Heavy Metals

ABSTRACT Plant, soil, and sediment samples were taken from the Fuqiao area within the Huayuan River basin in South China. Concentrations of manganese, zinc, cadmium, and lead in the samples were measured, and the characteristics of the plant samples to absorb, transfer, and accumulate the target metals were analyzed. It was indicated that the concentrations of target metals in 13 plant samples greatly exceeded the background values of target metals in plants over the world, and that the plant species might evolve to the accumulating ecotypes for the target metals under the long-term stress from the contaminated environment. Among 13 plant species, Alternanthera philoxeroides exhibited the highest accumulation capacities for the target metals, amounting to 6511, 13,784, 155, and 104 mg/kg in its shoots for manganese, zinc, cadmium, and lead, respectively. Its bioaccumulation coefficients for manganese, zinc, cadmium, and lead were 5.08, 49.23, 36.78, and 34.81, respectively, and its transfer factors for ma...