ABSTRACT
Wetlands have been constructed to ameliorate acid mine drainage (AMD) in the bituminous coal region of the eastern United States. Most wetlands have made liberal use of a variety of eucaryotic wetland plant species. This chapter aims to determine tolerance levels of three wetland plants to AMD under semicontrolled conditions in a greenhouse simulation study. Typha latifolia (cattail), Sphagnum recurvum (peat moss), and Pohlia nutans (a subaquatic turf-forming moss) were chosen for study because they are common in wet areas affected by AMD. Total chlorophyll declined substantially over time in all three plant species with undiluted AMD. On the basis of total chlorophyll content, Typha was most resistant to AMD, followed by Pohlia and then Sphagnum. However, a better measure of resistance to stress is the chlorophyll a/b or chlorophyll/accessory pigment ratio. Taken as a whole, the results suggest that Typha was the most generally tolerant of three plant species tested.
