Padoan, E.
REMEDIATE International Conference, 19-20 Sep 2018, Queen's University, Belfast. p 37, 2018

Field work was conducted to verify the effectiveness of phytoremediation on a former industrial Zn-contaminated soil within the city of Torino, Italy. The aims were to verify the suitability of applying phytoremediation in urban settings; assess the viability of short rotation forestry for soil remediation; determine the heavy metal uptake of different plant species; and establish an operational protocol for planting and agronomic maintenance of the parcels. Nine different tree types adapted to the Piedmont area with rapid growth and large biomass production were selected for parallel field and greenhouse experiments where plants were grown for two years. In the field experiment, short rotation forestry was adopted with a plant density of 10,000 plants per hectare. Biomass growth and soil were monitored throughout the trial to compare plant response and metal uptake rates in all plant tissues (roots, stems, leaves). In the urban contaminated soil, Salix was the best Zn accumulator, with maximum uptake in stem and leaves, although the produced biomass was low. After two years, no change in total soil metal content was observed, while bioavailable fractions of Zn and Cu declined significantly using all species, from the 26% of Robinia to the 36% decrease with Salix. In the pedoclimatic conditions of the urban site, Robinia was the most productive species, leading to higher extraction rate per hectare and giving promising results also in pot experiments, suggesting the possibility of increasing plant density to 16,000 plants per hectare.