Year: 2006
Type: article
Abstract: Evolution of tolerance to one or more metals enables plant species to colonise naturally metal-enriched soils. In the phylogeny of angiosperms, the evolution of high metal tolerance is not homogeneously distributed over taxonomic groups and shows differences not only within a taxonomic group, but even among populations of the same species. Anthropogenic metal emissions have pressed plants from non-metalliferous soils to evolve de novo metal tolerances that are predominantly realised in grasses. In this review, information is presented on the evolution of metal tolerance in angiosperms, its time scale and its physiological consequences.
Author: Wilfried H. O. Ernst
Institution: Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Language: English
Topic: Heavy metals in environment
Subfield: Pollution
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2402647024