Interactions between plant acclimation and adaptation to heavy metal and drought stresses, and their importance for remediation of metal-contaminated environments

在矿山、冶炼厂和炼油厂附近发现的重金属水平过高，比如在安大略省萨德伯里附近发现的重金属，会抑制植物的生长，甚至可能对它们造成致命影响。由此产生的土壤暴露会导致侵蚀和周围环境中含金属粉尘的排放。植物修复，即在受影响地区种植植被，是减轻金属污染场地对环境影响的一种经济有效的手段，但被使用的植物必须能够耐受重金属，而且经常还能耐旱，因为金属污染场地土壤往往很差。在田间条件下，低水平的金属对植物的影响还不是很清楚，但已经表明，植物会发生生理变化，可能会干扰植物耐受其他逆境的能力，如干旱。

Elevated levels of heavy metals close to mines, smelters and refineries, such as found around Sudbury, Ontario, reduce the growth of plants and can even be lethal for them. The resulting soil exposure leads to erosion and emissions of metal-containing dust in the surroundings. Phytoremediation, i.e., planting vegetation on the affected area is a cost-effective means to mitigate the environmental effects of metal-contaminated sites, but the used plants have to be able to tolerate heavy metals, and frequently also drought, as metal-contaminated sites tend to have poor soils. Effects of low levels of metals on plants under field conditions are not well known, but it has been shown that physiological changes occur, possibly interfering with the plant's ability to tolerate other stresses such as drought.