Copper contents in two species plants of Compositae growing on copper mining spoils.

A field survey and sampling for chemical analysis was carried out to investigate copper contents in Artemisia argyi and Artemisia scoparia.A.argyi grew dominantly on copper mining spoils at Jiguanshan,Yunnan Province and A.scoparia widely distributed at Tonglushan,Hubei Province.Both species were found to grow vigorously on the copper mining spoils with comparatively large biomass.The rooting zone soils supporting both species containing high concentrations of copper.Study results showed that A.argyi accumulated a large amount of copper in roots and leaves,ranging from 41 to 156 mg·kg~(-1) or averaging 83±29 mg·kg~(-1),and from 58 to 464 mg·kg~(-1) or 216±96 mg·kg~(-1) in average,respectively.A.scoparia accumulated higher copper in roots than in shoots in most cases ranging from 58 to 513 mg·kg~(-1) or averaging 183±101 mg·kg~(-1) with the former and from 42 to 259 mg·kg~(-1) or 97±52 mg·kg~(-1) in average with the latter.It was also found that A.argyi had higher leaf/root ratios(leaf/root1)than A.scoparia(shoot/root1)in terms of copper concentration.These results may suggest that both species could survive on soils contaminated with copper by different mechanisms.It was suggested that A.argyi possessed potential for phytoextraction and A.scoparia for phytostabilization,and that both had the potential to serve as pioneer species for phytoremediation of copper-contaminated soils.