THE PCA OF PHYTOMINING: PRINCIPLES, CHALLENGES AND ADVANCES

There is a number of commercially valuable elements whose concentration in the crust of the earth is too low for an economic mining with traditional approaches. However, phytotechnologies which take advantage of the capacity of certain plant species to take up these elements from the soil solution and accumulate them to large amounts in their biomass can be used for an economic winning of various metals and metalloids. This specific use of phytoextraction which has already been as one technology in the phytoremediation of contaminated sites is called “phytomining”

STUDYING THE POSSIBILITY OF USING RED-BROWN CLAY FOR RECLAMATION OF COAL WASTE DUMPS

The coal mining industry, as the source of the main fuel resource and the main energy resource, has particular importance for Ukraine. The largest coal regions of Ukraine include Donetsk, Lviv-Volynskyi and Dnipropetrovsk brown coal ponds. Their total area is 3% of the total area of Ukraine

BIOAVAILABILITY OF ELEMENTS FOR EFFECTIVE PHYTOREMEDIATION AND PHYTOMINING: THE ROLE OF RHIZOSPHERE PROCESSES

The success of phytoremediation (especially phytoextraction) and phytomining depends heavily on the bioavailability of target elements, which, among others, is a function of soil mineral phases, soil organic matter, pH and redox potential. The use of soil additives which, e.g., change soil pH or increase the amount of chelating compounds, has been propagated in the past in order to desorb the target elements from the soil matrix. These additives, however, may have negative environmental consequences by causing leaching of toxic elements from the soil due to enhanced mobility in the soil solution. For this reason less dangerous alternatives are necessary which use the natural capacity of plants to increase availability of target elements in their root environment

APPLICATION OF REMOTE SENSING TO ESTIMATE ABOVE GROUND BIOMASS IN TROPICAL FORESTS OF INDONESIA

This work aims to estimate Above Ground biomass (AGB) of a tropical rainforest in East Kalimantan, Indonesia using equation derived from the stand volume prediction and to study the spatial distribution of AGB over aforest area. The potential of remote sensing and field measurement data to predict stand volume and AGB were studied Landsat ElM data were atmospherically corrected using Dark Object Subtraction (DOS) technique, and topographic corrections were conducted using C-correction method Stand volume was estimated using field data and remote sensing data using Levenberg-Marquardt neural networks. Stand volume data was converted into the above ground biomass using available volume - AGB equations. Spatial distribution of the AGB and the error estimate were then interpolated using kriging. Validated with observation data, the stand volume estimate showed integration of field measurement and remote sensing data has better prediction than the solitary uses of those data. The AGB estimate showed good correlations with stand volume, number of stems, and basal area

SHORT-TERM EFFECT OF DISPERSION OF RESIDUAL SLUDGE ON THE SOIL EUCALYPTUS CAMALDULENSIS DEHNH, TIARET (ALGERIA)

Silvicultural upgrading of sewage sludge is an alternative to current solutions. It presents a lower risk of contamination of the human food chain than its use in agriculture. In this context, the use of forest plantations can offer many advantages

Overview of the environmental problems of ukraine caused by the war, and using the experience of world war ii to solve them

Modern issues of ecology and environmental protection in Ukraine are becoming especially relevant since the beginning of the war in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, and are most important after the full-scale invasion of the russian army on February 24, 2022. The conflict has caused enormous damage to the environment, including air and water pollution, deforestation and soil degradation, among other problems.Сучасні питання екології та охорони навколишнього середовища в Україні набувають особливої ​​актуальності з початком війни в Донецькій та Луганській областях, а найбільшої актуальності набувають після повномасштабного вторгнення російської армії 24 лютого 2022 року. Конфлікт спричинив величезної шкоди навколишньому середовищу, включаючи забруднення повітря та води, вирубку лісів і деградацію ґрунту, серед інших проблем

Effect of substrate properties and phosphorus supply on facilitating the uptake of rare earth elements (REE) in mixed culture cropping systems of Hordeum vulgare, Lupinus albus and Lupinus angustifolius

This study presents how phosphate (P) availability and intercropping may influence the migration of rare earth elements (REEs) in legume–grass associations. In a replacement model, Hordeum vulgare was intercropped with 11% Lupinus albus and 11% Lupinus angustifolius. They were cultivated on two substrates, A (pH = 7.8) and B (pH = 6.6), and treated with 1.5 g P m−2 or 3 g P m−2. Simultaneously, a greenhouse experiment was conducted to quantify carboxylate release. There, one group of L. albus and L. angustifolius was supplied with either 200 µmol L-1 P or 20 µmol L-1 P. L. albus released higher amounts of carboxylates at low P supply than L. angustifolius, while L. angustifolius showed the opposite response. Plants cultivated on substrate B accumulated substantially higher amounts of nutrients and REE, compared to substrate A. Higher P supply did not influence the leaf and stem P concentrations of H. vulgare. Addition of P decreased REE accumulation in barley monocultures on alkaline soil A. However, when H. vulgare was cultivated in mixed culture with L. angustifolius on alkaline substrate A with high P supply, the accumulation of REE in H. vulgare significantly increased. Conversely, on acidic substrate B, intercropping with L. albus decreased REE accumulation in H. vulgare. Our findings suggest a predominant effect of soil properties on the soil–plant transfer of REEs. However, in plant communities and within a certain soil environment, interspecific root interactions determined by species-specific strategies related to P acquisition in concert with the plant’s nutrient supply impact REE fluxes between neighbouring plants

Fine-scale vertical position as an indicator of vegetation in alkaligrasslands – Case study based on remotely sensed data

tVertical position is an important driver of vegetation zonation at multiple scales, via determining abioticenvironmental parameters, such as climate, soil properties and water balance. In inland alkali landscapes,elevation is a key factor for understanding patterns of salt accumulation and water table which is thereforeconsidered a good indicator of alkali vegetation types. Remote sensing techniques offer viable solutionsfor linking elevation data to vegetation patterns by providing an elevation model of extended areas.Our goal was to test the relationships between fine-scale differences in vertical position and vegetationpatterns in inland alkali landscapes by vegetation data collected in the field and elevation data generatedusing airborne laser scanning (ALS). We studied whether vertical position influences vegetation patternsat the level of main vegetation groups (based on alliances) or even at the level of associations. Our studysites were situated in a lowland alkali landscape in Hortobágy National Park (East-Hungary). We groupedthe associations into four main vegetation groups: loess grasslands, alkali steppes, open alkali swards andalkali meadows. Even though we detected a very limited range (121 cm) in the vertical position of the mainvegetation groups, they were well separated by their vertical positions. At the level of associations, a moredetailed elevation-based distinction was also possible in many cases. The revealed elevation–vegetationcorrelations show that high-resolution mapping based on ALS remote sensing techniques is an idealsolution in complex lowland areas, such as alkali landscapes. Our findings suggest that in other typesof lowland landscapes, characterised by elevation differences, the applied method might hold a greatpotential as a supporting tool for vegetation mapping

Prospects of mycorrhizal fungi in phytoremediation of heavy metal contaminated soils

Industry has a considerable impact on the environment. The coal industry in Ukraine is one of the largest environmental polluters. Heavy metals are one of the major environmental pollutants. Most of the heavy metals are important micronutrients for plants, such as: Zn, Cu, Mn, Ni. At the same time, others only have a negative effect: Cd, Pb and Hg. Mining is the main source of these heavy metals entering the environment. Coal industry is not an exception. Coal dumps are the main source of pollution. Studies have shown that these dumps have a high concentration of heavy metals that exceeds the permissible limit [1]. Heavy metals in these substrates are not chemically decomposed. They can be only removed or immobilized in the substrate [2]. Heavy metals can only be removed from contaminated land using physical methods. But these methods are expensive and require a large amount of expenditure