Heavy metal content in soil and plants from a pyrite mining area in Southwest Spain

Abstract

Mineral content was measured in soils and leaves of eight woody plant species growing in a pyrite mining area in southwest Spain. The concentration of copper, manganese, zinc and aluminium in leaf tissues varied between species. The results are related to contrasting mechanisms, “excluders”; vs. “accumulators,”; of plant response to heavy metal stress. The lasting effects of pyrite melting activities on surrounding soil and plants were evaluated and compared with heavy metal values in a nearby forest.