Coastal Wetland Species : Tolerance against Flooding, Salinity, and Heavy Metals for Its Potential Use in Phytoremediation and Environmental Restoration Technologies.

Plants with high biomass adapted to conditions of increased moisture and with significant salt tolerance appear to be particularly attractive candidates for phytoremediation studies. The aim of the present study was to examine the tolerance of plants to freshwater, saltwater inundation, and soil contaminated with heavy metals, as well as its metal accumulation potential in controlled conditions. Six separate vegetation container experiments in controlled conditions were performed with plants to study the effects of soil moisture, waterlogging with NaCl, soil Cd, soil Cr, soil Ni, and soil Pb in the form of a nitrate or acetate. Optimum plant growth occurred in waterlogged soil conditions. As the concentration of NaCl used for waterlogging increased, the mass of living leaves decreased, but that of dry leaves increased. As a result, the total biomass of leaves did not significantly change. plants were extremely tolerant to Cd and Pb, moderately tolerant to Ni, and relatively sensitive to Cr. The plants had high capacity for metal accumulation in older and senescent leaves, especially for Na, K, Cd, and Ni. plants can tolerate soil waterlogging with seawater-level salinity, which, together with the metal tolerance and potential for metal accumulation in leaves, make them excellently suited for use in a variety of wastewater treatment systems, including constructed wetlands.