Can anatomical and physiological characters predict plant adaptation on tin-mined land in Bangka Island?

Abstract

In the last decade, a handful of local tree species were planted on the tin-mined land in Bangka Island to support biodiversity and to meet the economical need of the local people in post tin-mining era. Exotic species have been used predominantly since revegetation was mandatory in Bangka Belitung islands in 1992. Some leaf anatomical and root physiological characters of five year saplings of ubak (Syzygium grande), penaga (Calophyllum inophyllum), and leban planted in unmined land and tin-mined land were studied to enrich local tree selection. Stomatal density, epidermal cells thickness, cuticle thickness, palisade and spongy mesophyll thickness, root conductivity and root conductivity ratio, chlorophyll and nitrogen contents, and plant height, stem diameter and canopy area of those species were measured. Based on the anatomical and physiological measurements, the best adapted species was V. pinnata, followed by C. inophyllum and then S. grande. Morphological measurements, however, show that the best performance was S. grande, C. inophyllum and V. pinnata. Further study is required to validate this result by assessing the transpiration rate of those species that are grown on mined and unmined lands and by measuring the free proline concentration.