Pb Uptake and Phytostabilization Potential of the Mining Ecotype of Athyrium wardii (Hook.) Grown in Pb-Contaminated Soil

Phytostabilization has been proposed as a cost-effective remediation strategy to immobilize metals in heavy metal polluted soils. A pot experiment was conducted to evaluate the Pb uptake characteristics and phytostabilization potential of the mining ecotype (ME) of Athyrium wardii and the corresponding non-mining ecotype (NME) when exposed to the Pb contaminated soils for 40 days. The ME was more tolerant to Pb than the NME when grown in Pb contaminated soil, and the ME demonstrated a greater Pb accumulation ability in roots (30.6-175.45 mg plant(-1)) than the NME (0.85-25.59 mg plant(-1)). The bioaccumulation coefficients of ME ranging from 52.02 to 83.16 were 3.24-8.89 times higher than those of the NME under Pb treatment, and the translocation factors of ME ranging from 0.022 to 0.079 were <1. The ME showed a higher capability in absorbing available Pb in soil than the NME. Furthermore, Pb remediation factors in roots of the ME were 6.93-15.35 times higher than those of the NME, and the plant effective number in roots of the ME ranging from 5.70 to 12.74 were lower than those of the NME. These results indicated that the ME showed a greater Pb uptake and phytostabilization potential than the NME, which enabled it as a worthy candidate for Pb phytostabilization.