全 文 ：　 　第 39 卷　第 4 期
2000 年　7月
中山大学学报 (自然科学版)
ACTA　SCIENTIARUM　NATURALIUM
UNIVERSITATIS　SUNYATSENI
　
Vol.39　No.4
Jul.　2000
　
文章编号:0529-6579 (2000)04-0094-05
Use of Tolerant Population of P.distichum for Revegetation
of a Pb/Zn Mine Tailings at Lechang:Field Experiment
SHU Wen-sheng1 , ZHANG Zhi-quan1 , HUANG Li-nan2 ,
LAN Chong-yu1 , Ye Zhi-hong3
(1.School of Life Sciences , Zhongshan University , Guangzhou 510275 , China;
2.Department of Environmental Sciences , Zhongshan University;
3.Department of Plant &Microbial Biology , University of California , Berkeley , CA94720 , USA)
Abstract:A field trial was conducted on Lechang Pb/Zn mine tailings at Shaoguan , Guangdong Province ,
to evaluate the growth of a metal tolerant population of Paspalum distichum on Pb/ Zn tailings amended with
soil and domestic refuse.Chemical analysis indicated that the toxic level of heavy metals(Pb , Zn , Cu and
Cd)and deficiency of major nutrients(N , P , K and organic materials)were the major constraints of the tail-
ings for plant establishment.In the first three months , P.distichum could successfully grow on pure tail-
ings , but the addition of soil and domestic refuse significantly improved growth of the grass , the application of
limestone not only improved plant growth , but also inhibited the uptake of heavy metals by plants.The sec-
ond harvest after one-year growth indicated that there was significant increase of biomass in TDL treatment
(tailings+domestic refuse+limestone) compared with the first harvest.Generally , there were evident de-
creases of heavy metals contents in plant in the second harvest.Results presented here demonstrated that use
of tolerant species together with waste materials might be a cost-effective method for revegetation of mine tail-
ings.
Keywords:Pb/ Zn mine tailings;metal tolerance;revegetation;Paspalum distichum
CLC number:X753　　Document code:A
Metalliferous mining activities produce a large quantity of waste materials(such as tailings)which
frequently contain excessive concentrations of heavy metals.These mining activities and waste materials
have created pollution problem and caused a lot of land dereliction without vegetation cover.Therefore ,
it is essential to restore the productivity of these derelict or damaged lands.Tolerant plants can with-
stand adverse conditions other than those associated with toxic metals , such as drought , saline , low
levels nitrogen , calcium and phosphate , direct seeding of tolerant species on mining wastes is a low in-
put approach for revegetation[ 1] .Our previous study indicated that Paspalum distichum was one of the
dominant species naturally colonizing on the Lechang Pb/Zn mine tailings , and the species had evolved
high multi-tolerance to Pb , Zn and Cu and had the potentiality to be used in revegetation of Pb/Zn
mine tailings[ 2] .Therefore , the experiments presented here aimed at assessing the growth of P.
distichum on Lechang Pb/Zn mine tailings with different amendments.It is expected to develop a cost-
基金项目:国家自然科学基金资助项目 (39870145 , 39770154);广东省自然科学基金资助项目
(990259);广东省博士启动基金资助项目 (984130)
收稿日期:1999-06-23;　作者简介:束文圣 (1968 ～ ), 男 , 博士;通讯联系人:蓝崇钰.
effective method for revegetation of Pb/Zn mine tailings.
1　Materials and Methods
1.1　Study site description and sample collection
The Lechang Pb/Zn Mine is located at about 4 km east of Lechang City in the northern part of
Guangdong Province , China.The climate is sub-tropical and the annual rainfall is about 1 500mm.It
is a conventional underground mining operation covering an area of 1.5 km2 , and produces approxi-
mately 30 000 tons of tailings annually , with a dumping area of 60 000 m2.Surface tailings samples of
the top 20 cm were collected from the Pb/Zn mine tailings pond in October 1995 , before the field ex-
periment , domestic refuse was collected from a nearby landfill , surface soil(red-yellow podzolic soil)
was collected from an uncultivated area far away from the mining area.
1.2　Revegetation experiment
The tailings pond was roto-tilled to a depth
of 20 cm , and then divided into plots (2 m ×2
m).There were six treatments (Table 1)with
four replicates each arranged in a completely ran-
domized block.All plots received a N , P , K fer-
tilizer(w(N)∶w(P)∶w(K)=15∶15∶15)at
a rate of N 150 kg/hm2.
Tab.1　Experimental design
Treatment
TA Tailings (control)
TL Tailings+limestone
TD Tailings+5 cm domestic refuse
TDL Tailings+5 cm domestic refuse+limestone
TS Tailings +5 cm soil
TSL Tailings +5 cm soil + limestone
　Note:Limestone was applied at the rate of 10 t·hm-2.
　　P.distichum growing naturally on the waterlogged area of the Pb/Zn tailings was transplanted
into the experimental plots in August 1996.After 3 months growth , a 0.022 5 m2 quadrat(0.15m×
0.15 m)was randomly placed on each plot for sampling.Shoots of the plant were clipped at 5 mm
above the ground , then excavated out the roots as completely as possible.Plant materials were washed
with distilled water , oven-dried at 80 ℃for 24 h for determining dry weight and contents of Pb , Zn ,
Cu and Cd[ 3] .After one year s growth , the second harvest was conducted using the same method as
the first harvest.
1.4　Chemical analysis
Air-dried tailings , soil , domestic refuse samples were ground to pass through a 2-mm sieve and
analyzed for the following parameters:pH(w(solid)∶V(distilled water)=1∶2);total organic carbon
(H2SO4+KCrO4), total nitrogen(N)(indophenol-blue method), total phosphate(P), (molybednum
blue method);total metal(Zn , Pb , Cd , Cu)contents(c(HNO3)∶c(HClO4)=5∶1)and extractable
metal(Pb , Zn , Cd , Cu)contents(extracted by DTPA , atomic absorption spectrometry)[ 3] .
2　Results and Discussion
2.1　The properties of the tailings and amendment materials
The properties of the tested materials are listed in Table 2.The tailings possessed high concentra-
tions of total and DTPA extractable heavy metals.Total Pb , Zn , Cu , Cd concentrations were 3 051 , 3
655 , 160 22 mg/kg , while extractable concentrations were 196 , 79 , 5.04 , 0.83 mg/kg respectively.
The tailings are slightly acidic with a pH of 5.47.EC values of the tailings ranged from 1.33 to 8.37
dS/m , with an average of 4.09 dS/m.Tailings were generally low in N , P and organic matter con-
tents.Toxic levels of heavy metals , deficiency of nutrients(N , P and K)and organic matter of the
five tailings were the major constraints to plant establishment and colonization.
95第 4 期　　　束文圣等:双穗雀稗重金属耐性种群在铅锌尾矿生长的野外实验研究
Tab.2　Properties of the tailings(n =18), soil and domestic refuse(n =4)used in present experiment
Tailings Soil Domestic refuse
pH 5.47 6.62±0.12 6.43±0.23
EC/(dS·m-1) 4.09 0.32±0.04 0.45±0.06
Organic-C/ % 0.69±0.38 1.12±0.14 1.35±0.21
Total N/(mg·kg-1) 429±93 1434.68±142.17 534.43±101.21
Total P/(mg·kg-1) 552±79 298.22±43.56 2015.38±259.83
Total K/(mg·kg-1) 1562±402 3318.61±549.21 3222.91±483.26
Pb
Total/(mg·kg-1) 3051±604 127.04±25.74 291.63±83.24
Extractable/(mg·kg-1) 196±176 8.10±0.94 6.88±2.13
Zn
Total/(mg·kg-1) 3655±1696 75.63±19.47 65.23±20.18
Extractable/(mg·kg-1) 79.29±65 3.30±0.06 3.26±1.12
Cu
Total/(mg·kg-1) 160±54 2.52±0.43 65.94±10.17
Extractable/(mg·kg-1) 5.04±4.50 0.57±0.07 2.85±0.52
Cd
Total/(mg·kg-1) 21.96±10.71 0.94±0.09 2.17±0.32
Extractable/(mg·kg-1) 0.83±0.86 0.06±0.04 0.10±0.08
The surface soil and domestic refuse were also slightly acidic and had a low salinity.Compared
with the tailings , both the soil and refuse contained higher levels of nutrients and lower levels of heavy
metals.In all the three materials , soil had the highest N and K contents , while domestic refuse had
the highest P and organic-C contents.
2.2　Biomass of P.distichum
The dry weight yields of P .distichum grown on each treatment are shown in Table 3.In the first
harvest , the total dry weight yields in different treatments generally followed the descending order of
TDL (tailings+refuse +limestone)≈TSL (tailings+soil+limestone)>TD(tailings+refuse)≈TS
(tailings+soil)>TL(tailings+limestone)≈TA(tailings alone).
There were no significant differences between the root dry weight yields among the treatment of
TD , TDL , TS and TSL(P >0.05), but the shoot in treatments of TDL and TSL were significantly
higher than the other treatments.The highest yields of P .distichum were obtained when grown in the
tailings amended with refuse or soil+limestone , might be due to the improved nutrient conditions and
the role of limestone.
Tab.3　Biomass(g·m-2 , dw)of Paspalum distichum grown on the tailings1)
Treatment
First harvest(3 months)
Shoot Root Total
Second harvest(1 year)
Shoot Root Total
TA 138±42b 112±78c 250±94c 23±11 f＊ 56±25d＊ 79±21e＊
TL 144±42b 165±61bc 309±102c 58±13e＊ 89±21d＊ 147±18d＊
TD 356±48b 423±119ab 778±122ab 339±41c 352±86bc 690±89c
TDL 490±102a 556±151a 1047±148a 693±129a＊ 599±105a 1292±116a＊
TS 339±41b 352±86bc 690±89b 220±32d＊ 301±79c 521±54c＊
TSL 501±124a 471±83.11a 974±126ab 487±82b 510±143ab 997±106b
　　1)(x±sd , n =4);Different letters(within the same column)indicate a significant difference at 5% level LSD
test;＊ indicates a significance between the first and second harvest at 5% level according to student t-test.
In the second harvest after one -year growth , there were significant decrease (P <0.05)of
biomass in treatments of TA , TL and TS compared with the firth harvest , and no significant changes of
biomass in TSL and TD.However , there was significantly increase(P <0.05)of biomass in TDL.
96 中山大学学报 (自然科学版)　　　　　　　　　　　　　第 39 卷
Tab.4　Heavy metal contents(mg·kg-1 , dw)of P.distichum grown on the tailings with different amendments1)
Treatment
Shoot
Pb Zn Cu Cd
Root
Pb Zn Cu Cd
First harvest(3 months)
TA
289.01±
105.29a
1091.61±
487.39ab
47.34±
15.59
11.39±
3.83
1857.74±
162.08a
4208.48±
500.92a
151.61±
22.01a
38.54±
10.47a
TL
303.47±
174.95a
1288.44±
737.54a
59.84±
23.87
10.63±
4.26
1717.13±
144.02ab
3097.57±
323.44b
115.96±
19.13b
26.93±
5.17b
TD
122.42±
42.56b
480.91±
121.84c
30.25±
2.03
5.59±
1.14
1639.95±
165.38ab
2826.24±
497.01b
99.85±
17.49b
24.21±
2.66b
TDL
98.27±
18.92b
380.55±
151.68c
34.30±
3.43
5.57±
2.23
1221.24±
205.18c
3093.49±
472.66b
103.91±
28.45b
22.73±
5.83b
TS
281.00±
76.67a
642.22±
147.55bc
42.88±
20.74
9.84±
5.21
1595.57±
407.74a
3346.79±
744.28b
115.26±
27.24b
24.06±
4.86b
TSL
133.05±
41.03b
678.33±
133.95bc
34.60±
7.46
7.28±
3.67
1509.12±
234.73b
3279.72±
402.96b
129.31±
11.32ab
26.91±
2.51b
Second harvest(1 year)
TA
253.21±
44.27a
892.45±
223.48a
33.26±
10.15ab
10.58±
3.29a
2015.48±
223.94a
4415.23±
606.63a
123.25±
29.24a
30.23±
6.26a
TL
202.62±
39.59ab
779.43±
121.68a
40.35±
10.13a
8.25±
2.17ab
1759.13±
354.62ab
3201.45±
403.26b
143.48±
39.12a
25.24±
4.83ab
TD
81.00±
26.67cd
302.57±
79.18cd
28.12±
9.34ab
5.72±
2.23bc
1020.31±
203.15ab
2258.13±
403.27c
64.13±
15.96c＊
13.78±
2.49b＊
TDL
58.26±
21.54d＊
228.54±
65.43d＊
15.28±
4.51c＊
4.23±
1.08c
818.27±
204.59c＊
2004.15±
303.28c＊
37.28±
7.23d＊
15.42±
4.41b
TS
185.54±
34.27b
432.19±
79.53b
32.43±
3.57ab
6.23±
1.87abc
1413.26±
303.87a
2993.55±
403.52b
103.54±
11.32ab
15.58±
4.97b＊
TSL
101.43±
17.65c
397.14±
82.25bc＊
25.43±
4.25b
5.63±
1.98bc
1383.75±
229.12b
3132.58±
503.41b
82.54±
28.45bc＊
17.95±
4.28b＊
　　1)(x±sd , n =4);To each harvest , data within the same column of with different letters indicate a significant
difference at 5% level according to the LSD test;Data followed by ＊ indicate a significant difference between
the first and second harvest at 5% level according to Student t-test
Our previous studies revealed that the Lechang mine tailings contained high level of pyrite , when the
pyrite exposed to air and water , it would be oxidized quickly and produced large amount of acidity , the
lowest pH of acidity tailings at Lechang was 1.69[ 4] .Therefore , the degradation of vegetation after one
-year growth might be due to the acidification of the tailings.The highest and increased biomass ob-
tained at TDL might be due to two factors:firstly , the high P content in domestic refuse(Table 2)not
only provided enough P for plant growth , but also inhibited the acidification process of the pyritic tail-
ings[ 5] , secondly , the application of limestone could neutralize the acidity produced from the tailings ,
and reduce the phytotocixity of heavy metals.
2.3　Heavy metal contents in P.distichum
Heavy metal contents in roots and shoots of P.distichum are listed in Table 4.Cu and Cd con-
tents in shoots of the grasses did not show any significant difference(P >0.05), while Pb and Zn
contents in shoots of the plants grown on the control and tailings amended with limestone were higher
than those of the other treatments(P <0.05).It was observed that roots of P.distichum grown on all
treatments accumulated very high amounts of Pb and Zn , such as the concentrations of Pb and Zn in
the roots of TA treatment were 1 858 and 4 208 mg/kg , respectively.Metal accumulation has been
recognized as an extreme type of physiological response in heavy metal tolerance.In general , the con-
97第 4 期　　　束文圣等:双穗雀稗重金属耐性种群在铅锌尾矿生长的野外实验研究
centrations of Zn and Pb in roots were higher than in aerial parts of P.distichum by many folds.The
results also indicated that P .distichum exhibited the ability to exclude the metal from aerial parts.
Compared with the first harvest , there were no evident changes of metal contents in plants.However ,
metal contents(Pb , Zn , Cu and Cd)in root and shoot of P .distichum in TDL treatment were signifi-
cantly decreased(P <0.05)in the second harvest(Table 4).This might be due to the growth dilu-
tion , because plants grown on TDL had significant higher biomass in the second harvest than that in the
first harvest.
3　Summary
Lechang Pb/Zn mine tailings contained high levels of total and extractable heavy metals(Pb , Zn ,
Cu and Cd)and low levels of N , P , K and organic materials.The toxicity of heavy metals and defi-
ciency of macro-nutrients were the major constraints for plant establishment.The result from the first
harvest demonstrated that P.distichum had satisfactory growth on tailings without any amendment ,
and also indicated that P .distichum had high heavy metal tolerance.Tailings amended with surface
soil and domestic refuse great improved the growth of P .distichum on the tailings , due to the relative
higher nutrient contents of soil and domestic refuse.Application of limestone aided to increase plant
growth , and inhibit the uptake of heavy metal by plant.The overall results demonstrated that using tol-
erant ecotype of P .distichum together with domestic refuse and limestone treatment was an ideal ap-
proach for revegetation of Pb/Zn mine tailings.
References:
[ 1] 　JOHNSON M S , COOKE J A , STEVENSON J K W.Revegetation of metalliferous wastes and land after metal
mining[ A] .In:Hester , Harrison R M.Mining and its environmental impact[ M] .1994.31～ 48.
[ 2] 　SHU W S , ZHANG Z Q , HUANG L N et al.Pb , Zn and Cu accumulation and tolerance in populations of Pas-
palum ditichum[ J] .Acta Scientiarum Naturalism Universitis Sunyaseni , 2000 , 39(3):53～ 57.
[ 3] 　PAGE A L , MILLER R H , KEENEY D R.Method of soil analysis , Part2.chemical and microbiological proper-
ties[ M] .2nd ed.ASA , SSSA , Madison , Wisconsin , 1982.
[ 4] 　SHU W S.Revegetation of Pb/ Zn mine tailings[ D] .Zhongshan University , 1997.
[ 5] 　SPOTTS E.Evaluation of phosphate materials for control of acid production in pyretic mine overburden[ J] .J En-
vironmental Quality , 1992 , 21:627～ 634.
双穗雀稗重金属耐性种群在铅锌尾矿生长的野外实验研究
束文圣 , 张志权 , 黄立南 , 蓝崇钰 , 黄铭洪
摘　要:利用双穗雀稗(Paspalum distichum)的重金属耐性生态型 , 结合土壤 、 垃圾和石灰改良尾矿 ,
在广东乐昌进行了为期一年的尾矿植被重建的野外试验.重金属毒性和极端贫瘠是乐昌铅锌尾矿植物定
居的限制因子.野外试验第 1 次收割结果表明 (3个月), 双穗雀稗可以在乐昌铅锌尾矿正常生长 , 而尾
矿覆盖 5 cm 的土壤或垃圾则可大幅度提高它的生物量.施用石灰不仅促进植物的生长 , 同时可抑制植物
对重金属的吸收.第2 次收割结果表明 (1年), 除了TDL处理(尾矿+5 cm 垃圾+石灰)双穗雀稗的生物
量较第 1次收割有着极显著的提高 , 但各处理组 (尤其是 TDL 处理)植物体内的重金属含量普遍有所降
低.实验证明利用耐性植物可在经轻度改良的尾矿上成功定居.
关键词:双穗雀稗;重金属耐性;植被重建;铅锌尾矿
中图分类号:X753
98 中山大学学报 (自然科学版)　　　　　　　　　　　　　第 39 卷
中山大学生命科学学院 , 广东 广州 510275