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

Hyperaccumulators from the serpentines of Andaman, India

S. Datta A D , K. Chaudhury B and P. K. Mukherjee C
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Department of Botany, Serampore College, Serampore, Hooghly 712201, India.

B Department of Botany, Garia Dinabandhu Andrews College, Kolkata 700084, India.

C Department of Botany, University of Calcutta, Kolkata 700019, India.

D Corresponding author. Email: sumand.srcol@gmail.com

Australian Journal of Botany 63(4) 243-251 https://doi.org/10.1071/BT14244
Submitted: 16 September 2014  Accepted: 23 April 2015   Published: 29 May 2015

Abstract

Serpentines are reported to occur over wide areas at or near the surface in the Andaman group of islands of India. Rutland Island and Chidyatappu in South Andaman and the Saddle Hills in North Andaman possess ophiolites in contiguous blocks covering appreciable areas. The soils had a low nutrient content and high concentrations of nickel, varying from 2700 to 10 100 μg g–1. In total, 11 hyperaccumulators of nickel were identified from the Andaman group, belonging to eight genera and seven families. Of these, Dichapetalum gelonioides (Roxb.) Engl. subsp. andamanicum (King) Leenh. and Rinorea bengalensis O.Kuntze accumulated nickel up to 30 000 μg g–1 dry leaf. The vegetation was evergreen, broad-leaved sclerophyllous scrub, with trees never exceeding 4–5 m in height.

Additional keywords: Andaman, India, serpentine, tropical hyperaccumulators.


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