An assessment of native Chilean woody plants for phytoremediation of copper-contaminated sites
department or school: Forestry, Faculty of
data provider: DSpace
degree campus: UBCV
creator: Milla-Moreno, Estefanía
issued: 2023-04-19T17:09:55Z
issued: 2023
related degree: Doctor of Philosophy - PhD
degree grantor: University of British Columbia
description: The need to divest fossil fuels sets copper (Cu) in higher demand for use in clean energy systems. Chile’s Cu production has resulted in more than 750 tailing deposits across the northern and central regions, an area that also includes a biodiversity hotspot and the driest desert in the world. The quantity of tailings in Chile is expected to increase, and phytoremediation could help assist their management. To guide such efforts, I assessed the field performance and physiology of ten native woody plant species used for phytoremediation at a copper (Cu) mine in Chile, conducted a controlled environment experiment with a subset of these species, and undertook a ‘UBC public scholars initiative’ to discover professional stakeholders’ views on the use of phytoremediation in Chile. In the field, I assessed survival and hare damage in all species; and growth, vigor, chlorophyll content index and chlorophyll fluorescence in seven. Metal and metalloid concentrations in roots and shoots were measured in five species. Copper was most concentrated in the roots of Prosopis chilensis (Molina) Stuntz (algarrobo) and Quillaja saponaria Molina (quillay). Due to lower uptake overall and reduced mobilization to shoots, quillay is suggested for stabilizing tailings. In a controlled environment experiment with quillay and espino (Vachellia caven (Molina) Seigler and Ebinger) grown under three increasing Cu levels for 6 months in a greenhouse setting, I measured growth, photosynthetic performance and elemental concentrations of leaves and roots to further evaluate their potential for phytoremediation. Growth of quillay was unaffected by Cu increases but growth of espino was enhanced, as was its photosynthetic performance, indicating that espino may have an unusually high requirement for copper. Excess Cu was mostly restricted to the roots of both species, where X-ray fluorescence mapping indicated some tendency for Cu to accumulate in tissues outside the periderm. Finally, through an onl…
aggregated CHO: https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/84321
note: AN ASSESSMENT OF NATIVE CHILEAN WOODY PLANTS FOR PHYTOREMEDIATION OF COPPER-CONTAMINATED SITES by Estefanía Milla-Moreno B.Sc., University of Chile, 2009 M.Sc., University of British Columbia, 2015 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE AND POSTDOCTORAL STUDIES (Forestry) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) April 2023 © Estefanía Milla-Moreno, 2023 ii The following individuals certify that they have read, and recommend to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies for acceptance, the dissertation entitled: An assessment of native Chilean woody plants for phytoremediation of copper contaminated sites submitted by Estefanía Milla-Moreno in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Forestry Examining Committee: Dr. Robert Guy, Professor, Faculty of Forestry, UBC Supervisor Dr. Cindy Prescott, Professor, Forestry, UBC Supervisory Committee Member Dr. Lacey Samuels, Professor, Botany, UBC Supervisory Committee Member Dr. Janusz Zwiazek, Professor, Agricultural, Life and Environmental Sciences, UAlberta Supervisory Committee Member Dr. Sean Smukler, Professor, Land and Food Systems, UBC University Examiner Dr. Christopher Chanway, Professor, Forestry, UBC University Examiner iii Abstract The need to divest fossil fuels sets copper (Cu) in higher demand for use in clean energy systems. Chile’s Cu production has resulted in more than 750 tailing deposits across the northern and central regions, an area that also includes a biodiversity hotspot and the driest desert in the world. The quantity of tailings in Chile is expected to increase, and phytoremediation could help assist their management. To guide such efforts, I assessed the field performance and physiology of ten native woody plant species used for phytoremediation at a copper (Cu) mine in Chile, conducted a controlled environment experiment with a subset of these species, an…
has type: Thesis/Dissertation
date issued: 2023-05
is shown at: 10.14288/1.0431190
language: eng
degree discipline: Forestry
provider: Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
publisher: University of British Columbia
rights: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
rights URI: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
scholar level: Graduate
contributor: Guy, Robert D.
type: Text
identifier URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/84321