Experiments on accumulation of phosphorus in the plants Myosotis palustris, Glyceria maxima and Nasturtium officinale

• Main Authors: O. Prokopchuk, V. Hrubinko
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oles Honchar Dnipropetrovsk National University 2016-10-01
• Series: Vìsnik Dnìpropetrovsʹkogo Unìversitetu: Serìâ Bìologìâ, Ekologìâ
• Subjects: phosphates; river water; higher aquatic plants; accumulation
• Online Access: http://ecology.dp.ua/index.php/ECO/article/view/693

The problem of availability of quality water is highly relevant today, so the technologies of prediction and prevention of water pollution and purification are very important. Biological methods of cleaning, in paticular cleaning water by the so-called method of biosorption, have been increasingly used in the last decade. This method means the removal of dangerous substances and improvement of water condition by using aquatic organisms, in particular plants. Therefore, in view of the rich experience of research conducted in the biosorption sphere, we decided to predict the effectiveness of this method by using the cumulative ability of higher water plants to absorb phosphorus compounds. For this purpose, we selected water and plant samples (Glyceria maxima (C. Hartm.) Holmb., Nasturtium officinale R. Br., Myosotis palustris (L.) L.) from the river Seret (Ternopil, Ukraine). The plants were placed into sterilized glass jars filled with 3 liters of water from the river Seret (control samples) and still tap water with addition of sodium phosphate with phosphorus concentration of 3.5 mg/dm³ (research sample), which were cultured in laboratory conditions for four months. We determined the content of phosphates, permanganate and dichromate oxidation in the water and the total content of phosphorus in the plants. We traced the dynamic of organic substances and the content of phosphates in the water, the accumulation of phosphorus in plants and the rate of accumulation of phosphorus in the plants and in the water. We calculated correlation coefficients to detect the dependence between phosphorus indicators in the aquatic plants and the concentration of phosphate ions in the water. We found that M. palustris had the greatest capacity to accumulate phosphorus and the highest rate of phosphorus accumulation from water, which allows us to consider it the most effective aquatic plant for absorption of elements and decreasing water pollution. We also established that G. maxima is the most effective aquatic plant for removal of phosphates from the soil and silt ponds for cultivation, while M. palustris and N. officinale are the most effective in reducing eutrophication of water bodies.