HEAVY-METAL UPTAKE AND DISTRIBUTION IN SILENE-VULGARIS AND MINUARTIA-VERNA GROWING ON MINING-DUMP MATERIAL CONTAINING LEAD AND ZINC

Plant and soil samples from a mining area in Carinthia (Austria) were investigated for their heavy metal content. In the soil surrounding roots of plants (Minuartia verna and Silene vulgaris) growing on the mining dumps, high concentrations of lead and zinc are to be expected. The two species (Minuartia and Silene) show very different heavy metal concentrations in their above- and belowground organs. From these observations it can be concluded that the divergent distribution of heavy metals within the plants is an important mechanism of tolerance to heavy metals. © 1990 Kluwer Academic Publishers.