Source: WESTSCAPE WHOLESALE NURSERY submitted to NRP
USE OF THE HALOPHYTE SARCOCORNIA UTAHENSIS AS A PHYTOREMEDIATION STRATEGY FOR THE AMELIORATION OF SALINE-SODIC IMPACTED SOILS . . .
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
COMPLETE
Funding Source
SMALL BUSINESS GRANT
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
0217783
Grant No.
2009-33610-19635
Cumulative Award Amt.
(N/A)
Proposal No.
2009-00306
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Jun 1, 2009
Project End Date
Jan 31, 2011
Grant Year
2009
Program Code
[8.4]- Air, Water and Soils
Recipient Organization
WESTSCAPE WHOLESALE NURSERY
423 N. TRACY AVE.
BOZEMAN,MT 59715
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
The environmental impacts of coal bed methane development (CBM) in Montana and the Rocky Mountain States are well documented. CBM exploration is expanding rapidly with the nation's focus on energy independence and the relative ease of extraction. Extraction of CBM necessitates pumping large volumes of often saline discharge waters to the surface. The impacts of those waters include: reductions in the quality and quantity of surface and sub-surface waters for drinking and agricultural purposes; increased salt levels to drainage wetlands and major river systems which can increase the salt levels of irrigation water; increased contamination of surface water; loss of productive agricultural rangeland; irreversible physical and chemical damage to agricultural and rangeland soils; changes in native plant communities and dependent wildlife; and increased soil erosion and resultant dust pollution. The EPA has stated that CBM development is the single greatest environmental challenge facing the Intermountain West. Between 2 to 4 trillion gallons of discharge water will be pumped on to the surface in the Powder River Basin of Wyoming and Montana alone over the next 20 years. CBM development is also at center stage of an enormous amount of litigation involving landowners, state and federal agencies, energy exploration companies, environmental groups, and in some cases between states (Montana vs. Wyoming), as rivers and aquifers traverse state boundaries. The use of plants to remove various pollutants from soil and water (phytoremediation) is an area receiving widespread attention. Phytoremediation is seen as a relatively "low-tech" methodology for ameliorating pollutants and is far more cost effective than complex treatment facilities. Halophytes are a group of salt resistant plants which have demonstrated abilities to evaporate large volumes of saline water and to remove substantial amounts of detrimental salts from impacted soils. The use and efficacy of these plants in many temperate/tropical areas of the world is well established. The goal of this research is to develop a cost effective, cold climate, plant-based system to remediate saline impacted soils lands in Montana and Wyoming so that native vegetation or saline tolerant agricultural crops could be re-established. The optimal outcome will be a situation where land owners, exploration companies, agronomists, wetland engineers and government agencies will work together to establish and manage these salt remediating species in conjunction with dispersal of discharge waters. The expected long-term benefits of this research include: remediation of salinized lands, improved water quality for both human and agricultural purposes, reduction of CBM impacts on associated wetlands, soil erosion, native plant communities, and dependent wildlife populations. Several of the candidate species identified by Westcape also bring the additional benefits of being a potential source for non-food biofuel for localized use as well as a large scale carbon sequestration mechanism.
Animal Health Component
100%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
100%
Developmental
(N/A)
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
1020210202050%
2051899102050%
Knowledge Area
102 - Soil, Plant, Water, Nutrient Relationships; 205 - Plant Management Systems;

Subject Of Investigation
0210 - Water resources; 1899 - Oilseed and oil crops, general/other;

Field Of Science
2020 - Engineering; 1020 - Physiology;
Goals / Objectives
Coal Bed Methane development (CBM) in Montana is raising the salinity and sodicity of associated soils and water. These increases have a long-term negative impact on soil chemistry and physical structure. The principal goal of this Phase I effort is to determine the feasibility of cultivating the salt resistant plant Sarcocornia utahensis for use as a reclamation species to ameliorate those impacts. Objective 1 establishes a plant nursery of S. utahensis at Westscape Nursery for conducting research on botanical, agronomic, and chemical attributes of S. utahensis (May 2009). This objective will establish protocols for commercial propagation of S. utahensis. Objective 2 will establish baseline soil chemistry of native soils associated with S. utahensis in Utah to CBM affected soils in Montana in May 2009. Comparing data from both groups will determine if S. utahensis is growing in soils of similar saline chemistry. The outcome of this objective will provide comparative data on CBM soils and the native soils of S. utahensis. Objective 3 will determine the feasibility of commercially producing S. utahensis by both vegetative and seed propagation methods. This objective will provide information on the best propagation method to use for commercial production of S.utahensis and provide the needed information by August 2009. Objective 4 will determine the evapotranspiration rates of S. utahensis in control and test soils. This objective will provide information on the ability of S. utahensis to reduce volumes of surface water via evapotranspiration in a greenhouse controlled experiment. These data will be extrapolated to demonstrate the ability of S. utahensis to reduce surface discharge water volume in CBM affected soils. Objective 5 will determine the carbon sequestration rates of S. utahensis in a saline environment associated with CBM discharge water. This objective will determine if salinity levels associated with CBM discharge water have an effect on the ability of S. utahensis to sequester carbon. These data will be collected in May and September of 2009 and extrapolated in October of 2009. Objective 6 will determine the overwintering potential of S. utahensis in CBM affected soils of Montana. This objective will determine if S. utahensis collected in Utah has the ability to overwinter at CBM sites in Montana. This objective will necessitate the extension of the grant for data collection in late spring of 2010 but will provide valuable information of the winter hardiness of S. utahensis in CBM affected sites in Montana. Objective 7 will determine any potential adverse effects of S. utahensis establishment in unaffected, non-native soils. This objective will determine if S. utahensis can survive and have the ability to reproduce in non-saline soils and have the ability to overwinter and germinate in the following spring. This objective will demonstrate if S. utahensis has the potential to become an invasive weed. This objective will necessitate the extension of the grant for data collection in late spring of 2010 for monitoring of vegetative spread and seed reproduction.
Project Methods
The general scientific methods used in the evaluation and development of S.utahensis will largely follow the standard operating procedures typically used for cultivating or naturalizing a wild species for production application. These tasks will include collection of mature plants and seed from indigenous sites. Plant material will be brought to Westscape for the establishment and maintenance of a mother plant nursery. Once established, individuals will be evaluated for basic botanical and agronomic characteristics and chemical composition. Data will be analyzed (ANOVA-SAS) for various traits germane to the development of the species for larger-scale germplasm production. Analysis will include traits such as ease of vegetative propagation, seed production capability, ability to remove and evaporate detrimental salts from saline soils and water. Tissue analysis for chemical constituents will be done by a certified independent testing lab. All other parameters will be evaluated by Westscape. Various environmental factors affecting the success of S.utahensis will also be analyzed. These will include the chemical comparison of indigenous soils from the Great Salt Lake area to those soils of the Powder River Basin (PRB) of Montana and Wyoming. All soil testing will be analyzed by an independent testing laboratory. Field plots will be established in the PRB for the purpose of evaluating parameters such as establishment, vigor, competitiveness, winter hardiness, disease or insect predation, seed set, and general adaptation to the environmental conditions of the PRB. Typical methods for measuring these data involve the establishment of indexing criteria which can then be used in standard statistical analysis. Throughout the evaluation process, Westscape will be selecting and maintaining superior individual genotypes for various desirable traits with the intention of creating an improved population or set of clones for accomplishing desired tasks. In terms of affecting a change to the current knowledge base of the target audience, there is currently no sound scientific methodology for managing the large volumes of discharge water being pumped on to the surface in the PRB and throughout the West. Those methods include pumping discharge into run-off channels, streams, wetlands, or rivers. In some cases, water is pumped into large containment reservoirs, injected back into aquifers, or simply pumped across the surface without containment. Some energy companies have made efforts at desalinizing water by mechanical means which are costly and cannot handle the volume of water being generated. The long-term geologic and hydrologic effects of re-injecting water back into aquifers are unknown and also expensive. The adaptation of a plant-based system for remediation of CBM environmental impacts would represent a major sea change not only in how discharge water is currently managed but would serve to demonstrate the efficacy of phytoremedial strategies in colder climates. Optimally, cooperation between land owners and energy companies would result from the adaptation of this research with the regional environment being the overall beneficiary.

Progress 06/01/09 to 01/31/11

Outputs
OUTPUTS: The focus of this SBIR Phase I grant was to identify possible species growing in similar environments both in terms of salinity and geography, which could be used in Montana and Wyoming to reclaim soils impacted by Coal Bed Methane (CBM) discharge waters. Once those species were identified, objectives were aimed at quantifying important botanical, agronomic, and physiological aspects of the target species. Further experiments were conducted to determine water use efficiency (WUE) by each species at high electrical conductivities (EC) and sodium (SAR) levels, how much sodium could be sequestered in the species tissue from high EC and SAR water and how much carbon was sequestered by each species at high EC and SAR levels. In all, seven principal objectives were identified and completed:1) location and procurement of live plant material and seed of target species, 2) development of propagation protocols for the selected species, 3) determination of agronomic characteristics and growth requirements of these species, 4) determination of the relative ability of these species to evapotranspirate varying degrees of saline water, 5) determination of the species ability to overwinter in CBM environments, 6) determination of the target species capacity to become invasive, and 7) determination of the species ability to sequester carbon in high saline environments. By including related species found in similar environments as Sarcocornia utahensis we have identified additional putative candidates for accomplishing the desired goals and have located numerous collection sites in Utah and Montana for all species of interest including Suaeda sp. and Allenrolfea. We have made collections of live plant material and seed and established a mother plant nursery at Westscape for future plant breeding and species improvement work. We have made considerable strides in our knowledge of important characteristics of the desired species. Most importantly, we have quantified the ability of some species for their capacity to function in hyper-salinated waters, to evapotranspirate those waters, and to remove and sequester sodium from those waters. We have procured a multiple year contract with the United States Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) to use plants, data, and other information from this SBIR Phase 1 research as part of a joint reclamation effort at the Hailstone National Wildlife Refuge in Montana, a severely saline/selenium impacted, endangered refuge. This is a collaborative effort between Westscape Nursery, Montana State University (MSU), USFWS, USGS, and the USDA-NRCS Bridger Plant Materials Center. Westscape's role in this project is to provide supporting research and plant material and to develop strategies for future reclamation and stabilization. In 2010 we established a joint field trial at Hailstone in collaboration with the USDA-NRCS. This trial contains species from our SBIR research. All of the agencies listed above including a graduate student thesis project from MSU will share information from this project. In 2009, Westscape presented a poster of its findings to date at the 6th International Phytotechnolgies Conference in St. Louis, MO. PARTICIPANTS: The following individuals and organizations participated and assisted in this SBIR project: Laura Smith and Robert Dunn of Westscape Nursery, principal and co-principal investigators respectively; Dr. James Bauder, Professor of Soil Science, Dept. Of Land Resources and Environmental Sciences, Montana State University, principal technical advisor; Amber Kirkpatrick, Westscape Nursery, research assistant for water chemistry, soil and lysimeter studies and data analysis, Russell Smith, Applied Wetland Solutions LLC, field technical assistance, Patty Scarrah, Westscape Nursery, greenhouse technical assistance; Cassandra Peterson, Westscape Nursery, undergraduate greenhouse assistance, Dr. Samuel Rogers, Montana State University Dept. of Chemistry (emeritus), greenhouse, field, and technical assistance, Ray Friesenhahn, SBIR and Technical Transfer Manager, TechLink, technical and financial support, Marti Elder, Marti Elder Inc., and John Balsam, John Balsam and Assoc., technical writing support; Karen Nelson, toxicologist, Department of the Interior, United States Fish and Wildlife, field cooperative assistance, Mark Majerus, Arbuckle Native Seedsters, Inc., and NRCS (retired), field technical assistance; and Joe Scianna, USDA-NRCS Bridger Plant Materials Center, field cooperative and technical assistance. Amber Kirkpatrick, Patty Scarrah, and Cassandra Peterson were all employed in part or full by this project and received technical training and skill enrichment from the project. Russell Smith is using data and information from this project for his current master's degree in the Dept. of Land Resources and Environmental Sciences at Montana State University under the direction of Dr. James Bauder and Dr. Katherine Zybinski. TARGET AUDIENCES: During the course of this Phase I project, Westscape entered into a multi-year contract with the Department of the Interior, United States Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS), utilizing plant material and data directly from our Phase I research for reclamation efforts at Hailstone National Wildlife Refuge in central Montana. This is a collaborative effort involving Westscape, USFWS, various researchers from Montana State University, the United States Geological Survey, and the USDA-NRCS Bridger Plant Materials Center. Our role in this project is to present through demonstration, novel concepts for reclamation of a severely impacted saline and selenium waterfowl refuge. In November, 2010, in cooperation with the USDA-NRCS, we established five demonstration plots at the refuge involving experimental material from this project. Although results from these trials will not be known until 2011, should they prove successful in these field demonstrations, it is expected that both USFWS and the USDA-NRCS who are cooperators with Westscape in the trial will incorporate the results into their own reclamation efforts and research programs. USFWS has indicated that they have other similarly impacted sites in the Rocky Mountain system which could benefit from our Phase I work. We have also agreed verbally to cooperate and share knowledge with the USDA-NRCS Bridger Plant Materials Center as developing plants for saline reclamation is becoming a major research priority for their program. In the private sector, Westscape is discussing the use of plant material and research from this project for potential use on oil field exploration sites in Wyoming with a multi-national environmental consulting company. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Two major modifications were made during the course of the project. Initial research efforts involved only one halophytic species, Sarcocornia utahensis. In studying this species in situ, we realized that a number of related species growing in close proximity to Sarcocornia occupied similar (but slightly different) eco-niches. By incorporating these related species into our project and studying their preferred soil chemistries, tissue make-up, and optimal growth requirements, we have been able to greatly expand both our knowledge base of these species, and how we might be able to use different halophytes for different reclamation settings. These species may be used individually or in concert with other species to achieve various tasks in a sequential reclamation plan. Our initial project concept focused only these plants as initial tools for saline remediation and reclamation. However, during the course of the project we understood that at least some of the species in the study also likely possess the ability to remove, sequester, and volatilize selenium (thus detoxifying) from soil and water. Selenium toxicity is a major problem on numerous sites in the western US. We are currently evaluating species from this project for their relative ability to accomplish this task.

Impacts
The Phase I study had seven major objective areas from which several important and novel findings arose. These findings will allow us to greatly expand the scope and application of our results for field-scale level, commercial reclamation application. From our extensive agronomic investigation of the sexual and asexual propagation methods of the halophytes, Sarcocornia utahensis, Suaeda moquinii, Suaeda depressa, and Allenrolfea occidentalis, we have shown that we can produce sufficient quantities of seed for use in field-scale reclamation efforts of saline impacted land. We have also established protocols for asexual propagation which could be useful in cloning individuals expressing desirable traits for ongoing breeding efforts. We have clearly demonstrated the ability of these species to function and persist when exposed to high electrical conductivities (EC) and high sodium (SAR) concentrations. We have shown that both Suaeda species have the potential to evapotranspirate large volumes of hyper-salinated water. This is an important finding showing that these species could be used to reduce Coal Bed Methane (CBM) discharge waters, a major objective of this project. All species of interest in this study have demonstrated the ability to increase their biomass and sequester carbon under high salinity levels. These species show potential for stabilization and erosion reduction of impacted sites while increasing organic matter (important for further reclamation efforts) and fixing carbon in areas where no other species will colonize. We have demonstrated that these species have the ability to remove and sequester salts (namely sodium) from high saline solutions. The most significant and surprising result coming from this lysimeter study is that all species tested were able to preferentially remove sodium cations (considered deleterious) in relation to the "beneficial" cations, calcium, magnesium, and potassium. The current literature covering ion-accumulating plants for remediation of saline impacted lands indicates that many species preferentially uptake beneficial cations thus increasing the relative concentration of sodium in the soil solution. This serves to worsen the remedial effort. We have clearly shown that our target species can be used to preferentially remove sodium while leaving other cations behind. This unexpected result may change the perception of how these plants can be used for reclamation of saline impacted sites and incorporated with other plant-based strategies for long-term reclamation of CBM and similarly affected environments. We also believe that some of the species in this study possess the ability to remove and volatilize toxic concentrations of selenium from the environment. Annual, temperate zone relatives of our target species are known to detoxify and volatilize selenium. We have ongoing studies to quantify the ability of target species to accomplish this chemical transformation. Cold-arid adapted plants with the ability accomplish the tasks described herein have wide-spread application for remediation of CBM and similarly impacted saline and selenium dominated environments in the Rocky Mountain region.

Publications

  • Smith, L. Y., Dunn, R.L., Bauder, J.W., Kirkpatrick, A, and R.F Smith. 2010. The use of ion-accumulating halophytes for phytoremediation of saline and selenium impacted soils and water in cold-arid climates. In Proceedings of the 6th Intl. Conf. on Phytotechnology. Available at www.Clue-in.org - EPA ref. 542-A-09-002.