Woody plants in phytoremediation of pollution of agricultural land with nitrates and pesticides

Abstract

Although plants have a natural potential for removing various types of pollutants from nature, phytoremediation is a relatively new area of research and has a commercial application. By intensive application of nitrogen fertilisers and pesticides in agriculture, their excessive amounts reach the soil and accumulate or flow into deeper layers of soil and groundwater. So far, most soil remediation studies have been done with herbaceous plants, but they have not shown high efficiency. The paper gives an overview of the possibilities and advantages of using woody plants in the phytoremediation of soils contaminated with nitrates and pesticides. The choice of woody species that can be successfully applied is limited and the best results were obtained with poplars and willows. Unlike nitrates, which are easily absorbed by trees, pesticides are complex organic compounds and their remediation takes place through mechanisms such as rhizodegradation and phytodegradation. Poplar, as the most commonly used woody species for phytoremediation, has shown high efficiency in removing nitrates and pesticides, especially herbicides. Examples of successful soil and groundwater remediation can be found in the remediation of atrazine, alachlor, metribuzin, paraquat and others.