Influence of increasing nickel content in soil on Miscanthus x giganteus Greef and Deu. Yielding and on the content of nickel in above-ground biomass

The aim of the research conducted in a 2-year pot experiment in an unheated plastic tunnel was to determine suitability of Miscanthus x giganteus for phytoextraction of nickel from soil as well as to assess tolerance of this species on increasing concentrations of this metal in soil. Pots were filled with mineral soil (sand) and a mixture of soil with high-moor peat and three levels of nickel were introduced, i.e. 75 mg dm(-3), 150 mg dm(-3) and 600 mg dm(-3) and the control combinations used substrates without the addition of nickel. Nickel was introduced only in the first year of the experiment in the form of nickel sulfate (NiSO4 center dot 6H(2)O). Miscanthus x giganteus accumulated a considerable amount of nickel in biomass. Miscanthus x giganteus growing in contaminated mineral soil turned out to be a species tolerant to high nickel concentrations.