Posted on 09/21/2018 1:11:39 AM PDT by vannrox
Scientists originally discovered hyperaccumulators in the 1970s, and so far over 65 such plants have been identified in New Caledonia, 59 in Turkey, and a few others in countries like Brazil, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines. However, scientists are convinced that many more remain to be discovered. This capacity to store large quantities of heavy metals has been studied by various biological sciences, from molecular biology to physiology and biochemistry, and while much has been learnt about the hyperaccumulation and hypertolerance of zinc and cadmium by some plants, nickel hyperaccumulation mechanisms remain a mystery.
The evolution of hyperaccumulators like Pycnandra acuminata is believed to have occurred over millions of years, but scientists have yet to identify a universal mechanism of nickel uptake and storage, although some initial investigation has been carried out. The reason why such plants have evolved the way they have is also up for debate.
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The “elemental herbivory protection” theory is the most popular among scientists. It proposes that the unusually elevated concentration of nickel protects the plant from leaf-chewing insects and other herbivores, and studies have shown that hyperaccumulated nickel is indeed toxic to most herbivore insects, although some have developed a high tolerance to it.
But there are other theories being thrown around in scientific circles, like the one according to which the nickel has anti-fungal effects which protect the tree from various infections, or the one that proposes that the heavy metal reduces the germination and growth of other competing plants nearby through leaf litter deposition. However, there is still much we don’t know about this type of hyperaccumulators, and at this stage, these are all just theories.
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One thing that has been proven, is the capacity of hyperaccumulators like Pycnandra acuminata to clean soil with a build-up of toxic material caused by human activity, through a process called “phytomining”. There is also clear potential for phytomining of heavy materials like nickel in soils that are sub‐economic for conventional mining. Such applications already exist for hyperaccumulators of selenium, thallium and manganese.
Unfortunately, hyperaccumulators are currently in a dire situation, and Pycnandra acuminata is a clear example of this. Due to heavy deforestation, this tree species only exists in fragmented forest patches surrounded by maquis, with probably fewer than several hundred individuals left. With destructive human activity in the New Caledonia continuing, the fate of this metal-bleeding tree and many other species native to this area hangs in the balance.
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Sources: New Phytologist, BBC
The tree often has blue sap due to the high nickel content.
Maybe they're trying to evolve battery power.
“....hangs in the balance.”
New law/funding demand detected.
Plants LOVE heavy metal, as confirmed during an episode of Mythbusters.
So if this yrars flu doesnt end life as we know it.. the electric trees might. O Noes! I am allergic to nickel, so i am in trouble. Thanks for the heads up on electric trees.
I’m waiting for the tree that stores Unobtanium...
natural alchemy. Maybe money does grow on trees.
How so? Might work I suppose if humans harvest the plants, removing them. Otherwise, they'd naturally drop and decay, returning the metals to the soils.
My take was that this was simply another pandering to the “all humans should commit suicide RIGHT NOW crowd.
Is nickel damaging the planet?
Whadda ya mean they need more grant money.
Perhaps “all humans should commit suicide” is not enough. They want us to make sure and plant hyperaccumulators near our grave sites, so after we are all gone, the plants will continue to get rid of us.
Not sure it is economically viable with trees.
Or is that mongoose?
A couple more and they’ll have enough metal to build another Titanic.
I read an article a long time ago about a proposal to plant such plants in areas of Detroit that had heavy metal soil contamination. It was abandoned because the roots didn’t go down deep enough, so only the very top of the soil would be cleared.
“Mongoose only pawn in game of life.”
I built a deck using Ipe-Brazilian hickory (Pau Lope, Ironwood) from the Amazon. It’s an incredibly hard wood, 3x as hard as oak...weighs 69 lbs/cubic foot, requires carbide tipped saw blades and hardened drill bits. You can’t nail into it or drive a screw in...the wood has to be pre-drilled. And wear breathing apparatus when cutting it because the sawdust is very irritating to the lungs. Nasty (but beautiful) stuff.
As they’re growing, these trees pull silica up thru their root system and deposit the silica thru-out the tree...making it almost like a soft stone. Because of the method I used to install it, it will probably last 100 years.
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