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Australian Journal of Botany Australian Journal of Botany Society
Southern hemisphere botanical ecosystems
RESEARCH ARTICLE

The extent and applications of metal accumulation and hyperaccumulation in Philippine plants

Sarah Duddigan https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6228-4462 A * , Marilyn O. Quimado B , Edwino S. Fernando B and Mark Tibbett https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0143-2190 A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Department of Sustainable Land Management, Centre for Agri-Environmental Research and Soil Research Centre, School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, University of Reading, Reading, Berkshire, UK.

B Department of Forest Biological Sciences, College of Forestry and Natural Resources, The University of the Philippines – Los Baños, Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines.

* Correspondence to: s.duddigan@reading.ac.uk

Handling Editor: Garry Cook

Australian Journal of Botany https://doi.org/10.1071/BT23070
Submitted: 29 August 2023  Accepted: 20 November 2023  Published: 7 December 2023

© 2023 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing

Abstract

To examine the potential applications of hyperaccumulator plants in the Philippines, we reviewed current data on the extent of metal hyperaccumulation in native species and partitioning of metals within the plant tissue. Twenty-eight species had reported tissue concentrations above the hyperaccumulator threshold, 11 species were endemic to the Philippines. Nickel was present in higher concentrations in the aboveground tissue than in the belowground tissue, but the reverse was found for copper, aluminium and chromium. The fact that copper accumulates belowground rather than above, and most hyperaccumulators of nickel identified were trees, has implications for the potential of phytoextraction using native Philippines flora.

Keywords: bioaccumulation factor, hyperaccumulator, metal tolerance, metallophyte, Philippine flora, phytoextraction, phytomining, phytoremediation, translocation factor.

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