Our findings indicated that mine water had a certain inhibitory effect on ryegrass seed germination, and the intensity of this inhibitory effect increased with increased mine water proportion. These effects were mainly reflected as changes in germination potential. Concretely, irrigation with mine water prolonged the germination of ryegrass seeds but had no significant effect on germination rate. Min Zhu et al. found that recycled water inhibited the seed germination of turfgrass, and this effect became more notorious when the concentration of reclaimed water increased. This was likely because the water contained salt ions, heavy metal ions, and E. coli, all of which are known to affect seed germination22. The mine water was taken from the Laohutai mining area, where the water composition and quality are good. Therefore, mine water did not significantly affect seed germination and the seeds maybe germinate normally if given sufficient time.
The physiological and photosynthetic characteristics of ryegrass were impacted by the mine water, and the intensity of inhibition increased with higher mine water proportions. When the ratio of mine water to clean water reached a certain proportion (1:2, A1 and B1), the physiological and growth characteristics of ryegrass were improved to a certain extent. When only mine water was used for irrigation, the indices were significantly suppressed. In contrast, mixing clear water with mine water for irrigation promoted the physiological characteristics of the plants, as well as photosynthesis. This was likely because the mineral content of mine water is higher. However, mine water not only contains elements needed for plant growth but also some elements and ions that have inhibitory effects on plant growth. Therefore, the quality of ryegrass growth were suppressed when irrigating only with mine water. In contrast, after mixing the mine water with clean water, the concentrations of certain substances that produce adverse effects are diluted, and the mixed irrigation water promoted ryegrass growth in appropriate proportion.
A certain concentration of heavy metal elements will affect the absorption of essential elements by plants and produce antagonism, and high concentration can directly lead to plant death. Heavy metal stress affects chlorophyll content through two aspects: Heavy metal destroys enzymes needed for chlorophyll synthesis, affects plant chlorophyll synthesis, and then inhibits plant photosynthesis23. The second is the destruction of chloroplast structure and cell membrane24,25,26. In the treatment of high concentrations of heavy metals, the chlorophyll content of plants is significantly reduced due to the inhibition of chlorophylase or aminolevulinic acid dehydrase, thus inhibiting plant photosynthesis27. The heavy metal threat forcing stimulates the formation of reactive oxygen species that convert fatty acids into toxic lipid peroxides, which damage to plant cells28,29,30. Heavy metal stress can induce a lot of activity in plants sexual oxygen and inhibit the normal metabolism of plants, causing membrane lipid peroxidation and increased plasma membrane permeability31, 32. Low concentration of heavy metal stress will stimulate the protective mechanism of plants, so low concentration of stimulation will not damage plants, on the contrary, may help plant growth. Heavy metal stress causes water loss in plants, and a certain amount of proline can be produced to regulate the water balance of plant cells and reduce the damage degree of plant cells33. SOD, POD and CATT are important antioxidant enzymes in plants, which can scavenge excessive free radicals. The synergistic action of three enzymes can protect plants from free radical damage. When the concentration of heavy metals was low, the activity of protective enzymes increased under the induction of reactive oxygen radicals. However, with the increase of stress degree, the activities of SOD, POD and CAT decreased, which eventually led to the persecution of plant cells34. These conclusions are consistent with the results of this paper. When mine water was mixed with clear water at a ratio of 1:2, heavy metal stress stimulated the protective mechanism of ryegrass most appropriately, and improved plant quality and resistance. On the contrary, when the proportion of mine water increased, the physiological characteristics and quality of ryegrass plants were inhibited to different degrees.
Precious Nneka Amori et al. studied physiological traits of leaves and Silverbeet using treated wastewater, the results show that the biomass of plants watered with only the treated wastewater were more than 50% higher than the yield in tap water control and plants exhibited high degree of root foraging1. Libutti et al. irrigated tomato and broccoli with purified agro-industrial effluent and reported that yield and quality traits of agricultural products were not affected35. Radish was grown using a reclaimed synthetic textile wastewater treated in an anoxic-aerobic photobioreactor, and the dry weight, leaf number and leaf area of plant harvest were 49, 19.2 and 62% higher than the growth performance in freshwater irrigation36. FU et al. studied four native Chenopodiaceae plants of Halogeton glomeratus, Kochia scoparia, Suaeda glauca and Chenopodium glaucum in Jinchang area northwest China, from their changes of net photosynthetic rate (Pn), Stomatal conductance (Gs), transpiration rate (Tr). chlorophyll content (Chl), malondialdehyde (MDA), soluble protein (SP), proline (Pro) and antioxidant enzymes activity under the treatment of farmland soil (T1) and sedendary soil mixed with tailing (1:1, T2), they concluded that under T2 treatment, Pn, Gs, and Tr of Halogeton glomeratus and Kochia scoparia were decreased , the other six indexes were increased significantly. Gs, Tr, MDA, Pro, and SOD increased, yet CAT, Chl and Pn of Suaeda glauca decreased significantly, respectively. Pn, Gs, and Tr of Chenopodium glaucum decreased significantly, while SP, POD increased significantly37. Our results also indicated that mine water irrigation had significant effects on soil characteristics. At higher mine water ratios, the soil conductivity increased exponentially, the pH decreased gradually, the content of K+, Na+, Ca2+ and Mg2+ increased, and the content of N, P and K also increased gradually. In contrast, the clean water and mine water mixture had little effect on the soil properties. This was because the salt and metal ions in mine water migrate to the soil during the irrigation process, which significantly changes the soil properties. As a result, the concentration of salt in the soil increased and soil acidity also increased. After mixing with clean water, the concentration of salt decreases, and the influence on the soil matrix weakened. These results also indicated that the growth, physiological, and photosynthetic effects of ryegrass in the pot experiments were better than those in soilless culture, because there were many other organic materials and inorganic ions in soil that could promote growth, whereas the plants in the hydroponic system lacked other nutrients that benefit plant growth. Many existing studies have shown that mine drainage or other wastewater can improve the quality and yield of one or more kinds of plants to different degrees after certain treatment, but some studies also show that the reclaimed water used for irrigation will cause harm to plants, soil and even human health.
Jinfang Yang et al. reported that long-term irrigation with mine water significantly reduced the soil respiration rate and soil enzyme activity. Mine water irrigation also significantly inhibited wheat plant height, leaf area, chlorophyll content, and photosynthetic rate, and wheat production was also markedly reduced38. Jianjun Cha found that acidic mining waste water can reduce the pH of the soil profile and increase its electrical conductivity39. Junhao Qin et al. found that if treated mine water is used as an irrigation water source, acidic substances may still be introduced into the soil. This inhibits plant growth and may also enhance leaching of some trace elements in the soil to shallow aquifers, resulting in groundwater pollution40, 41. The results of this study are consistent with the above conclusions, that is, directly irrigating with mine water can significantly inhibit plant growth and photosynthesis, thus affecting the quality of ryegrass plants. MA et al. studied the effects of irrigation with mine wastewater on the physiological characters and heavy metals accumulation of winter wheat. It shows that irrigation with mine wastewater had negative effects on the winter wheat growth and grain yield. At anthesis stage, the leaf area, dry mass per stem, root activity and net photosynthetic rate of winter wheat in treatments were significantly lower and the plant height and leaf chlorophyll content was decreased. In addition, the heavy metals (Cr, Pb, Cu and Zn) contents in the grain of winter wheat under mine wastewater irrigation were significantly higher than those in control, it suggested that the irrigation with mine water could result in the heavy metals accumulation in wheat grain42. A large number of studies have shown that direct use of mine water for irrigation will have a negative impact on soil and plants, but this study found that after a certain processing of mine water (mine water was mixed with clear water in a ratio of 1:2) used for irrigation does not significantly alter soil properties, but can increase plant yield and quality, it will be meaningful to mine water reuse, soil utilization around the mining area and the agriculture.
The conclusions of this study are based on mine water from Fushun mining area in Northeast China, but the effects of mine water on plants from other mining areas are uncertain. At the same time, ryegrass, a cold-season turfgrass, is only selected in this study. If it is other kinds of plants, how they respond to mine water irrigation needs further study. What are the effects of mine water irrigation on plants other than ryegrass that need further study. Moreover, this study was only a short-term experiment, and the effects of mine water on the properties of the soil matrix cannot be generalized. Indoor experiments can be regularly watered to maintain moisture, indoor temperature is relatively fixed, while the natural environment is a lot of uncertainty and uncontrollable. Would the results of a small-scale pot experiment in a controlled environment be different if it were applied to a field where there are many uncertainties about soil properties and atmospheric conditions? Long-term field experiments must also be conducted to confirm our findings in more realistic conditions. The use of mine water resources not only has environmental and social benefits but could also bring economic benefits43. This study demonstrated that mine water can be used in ecological restoration and agricultural irrigation in mining areas, and is therefore of great significance to environmental restoration.
Source: Ecology - nature.com
