US-Turkey Cooperative Research: Studies of the Flora of Metalliferous Soils of Turkey

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Description: This award is for support of a cooperative project by Dr. Arthur Kruckeberg of the University of Washington in Seattle, and three Turkish scientists: Dr. Adil Guner of A.I. Baysal University in Bolu, and Drs. Tuna Ekim and Nezaket Adiguzel, of Gazi University in Ankara, Turkey. The project is to examine the ecological factors and chemical behavior of metal-rich soils. The project has several tasks: collection of plant specimens to serve as a Herbarium reference material, from metal-rich soils in several areas in Turkey; establishment of species lists of plants that evidently possess a special tolerance to soils containing high concentration of heavy metals; multielement chemical analysis of samples of the plant species collected, identification of cases of strong accumulation of metals; and detailed chemical analysis of soils from the study area chosen to establish the degree of abnormal metal concentration. The area of research has become of interest for several reasons: 1. the need to increase our knowledge, on a worldwide basis, of the naturally occurring flora of metal-rich soils, including the identification of metal-accumulators, 2. the desirability of rehabilitating and revegetating areas laid waste by mining activities using metal-tolerant species, and 3. the potential for the use of metal-accumulating plants in soil-clean-up. Scope: This project will involve several research teams with complementary capabilities to conduct research in an important ecological and biological research area. Dr. Kruckeberg and his Turkish collaborators will carry out the field work. Dr. Roger Reeves, a professor of chemistry at Massey University in New Zealand, will participate as an expert in biogeochemical field work, and in nickel hyperaccumulation of a number of Turkish plant species. This proposal meets the INT objective of supporting US-foreign collaboration in areas of mutual benefit.