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helpful weed

Came across this info in a science newletter I read.  Happy Thanksgiving.

Carmen

http://www.scienceguide.com/News/News_Articles/112697Article_18.html

Research News Release: 25 November 1997
Contact: Kelli Whitlock
kwhitlock1@ohiou.edu
614-593-0383
Ohio University

Common Weed Reduces Salt Content In Contaminated Soils, Study Suggests 

ATHENS, Ohio -- A new study at Ohio University suggests that a weed 
found around the United States can reduce the salt content in soil 
contaminated by brine spills, a common environmental problem on sites 
being drilled for oil or gas. 

Brine -- water saturated with three to 10 times more salt than seawater 
-- is toxic to plants. Without human intervention, it can take years for 
the saline content in the soil at a spill site to return to levels that 
allow plant growth. 

But researchers found that knotweed, a member of the Buckwheat family, 
grows well in high-saline soil, and actually helps to remove the salt so 
that other plants can once again thrive. 

"When companies drill for oil, they also get brine, and the brine is 
usually stored in a tank on the site," said Irwin Ungar, professor of 
environmental and plant biology at Ohio University and co-author of the 
study. "At the site we studied, the brine spill occurred in 1989 when 
workers were pumping the salt water out for storage." 

The following year, researchers began studying the site, about 15 miles 
northeast of Athens, and noticed that while all vegetation on the site 
was dead, knotweed was growing on the periphery. Four years later, when 
the saline content was still 1 to 2 percent above normal, the knotweed 
was thriving inside the spill area. 

Soil tests proved that the plant had helped to reduce the saline content 
of the soil. Researchers believe that the site will be returned to its 
pre-spill state with the aid of the plant's natural saline-removing 
ability and rainfall that helps to dilute the salt content. The knotweed 
studied, Polygonum aviculare L, is a ground-covering leafy plant 
speckled with small pink flowers. It's related to Japanese knotweed, a 
much more aggressive weed that creates problems for gardeners around the 
country. 

Although knotweed is not as saline-tolerant as plants found in salt 
marshes and other coastal areas, its wide habitat range would make it an 
ideal candidate for efforts to restore contaminated soil naturally and 
inexpensively, Ungar said. 

"Currently, soil contaminated by brine must be removed and landfilled," 
he said. "Using this or some other saline-tolerant plant to remove salt 
from the soil through natural means would be more environmentally and 
economically desirable." 

The research was co-authored by Margaret Foderaro, a former Ohio 
University graduate student in environmental and plant biology. It was 
supported by the Petroleum Environmental Research Forum and appeared in 
a recent issue of the journal American Midland Naturalist. 

- 30 - 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contact: Irwin Ungar, 614-593-1120; iungar1@ohiou.edu.
Written by Kelli Whitlock, 614-593-0383; kwhitlock1@ohiou.edu. 
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