Chapter 15
Potential of Free Floating Macrophytes
for Bioremediation of Heavy Metals- A
Conceptual Review
Punita Parikh and Krupa Unadkat
Abstract Ecosystem balance and ecological restoration occurred naturally that
helped to maintain sustainability in ecosystem. The biodiversity plays a significant
role in biogeochemical cycling and balancing the ecosystem. Anthropogenic activities for development and indiscriminate use of technology lead to exploitation of
natural resources and imbalance of ecosystem. Pollutants containing various organic
and inorganic components including heavy metals into aquatic ecosystem lead to
their bioaccumulation and bioaugmentation. This could be reverted by conservation
of natural resources including biodiversity and utilizing their potential in bioremediation. The present paper is a conceptual review of researches carried out to assess
the efficiency of free floating macrophytes in bioremediation of heavy metals. A
periodic assessment of systematic literature can bring about the possibility of
effective utilization of aquatic plants in water treatment and pollution reduction
thereby ecosystem balance.
Keywords Bioremediation · Free floating macrophytes · Heavy metals
1 Introduction
1.1 Aquatic Angiosperm Diversity in Wetlands
In ancient time aquatic and wetland ecosystem were considered as unproductive,
worthless and sometimes detrimental, subsequently it illuminated with specific
ecological features, values and functions (Mishra and Tripathi 2009). The backbone
of aquatic ecosystem is its diversity of flora and fauna. Aquatic flora increases
productivity as well as asseverate the balance of an aquatic ecosystem. Though
global acceptance of aquatic biodiversity as sustainable life supports system, it
hardly acquires attention for scientific studies. Hence, potential of aquatic plants
remains quiescent since prehistoric times.
P. Parikh (*) · K. Unadkat
Department of Botany, The MS University of Baroda, Vadodara, Gujarat, India
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
J. Aravind et al. (eds.), Strategies and Tools for Pollutant Mitigation,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63575-6_15
309
Potential of Free Floating Macrophytes
for Bioremediation of Heavy Metals- A
Conceptual Review
Punita Parikh and Krupa Unadkat
Abstract Ecosystem balance and ecological restoration occurred naturally that
helped to maintain sustainability in ecosystem. The biodiversity plays a significant
role in biogeochemical cycling and balancing the ecosystem. Anthropogenic activities for development and indiscriminate use of technology lead to exploitation of
natural resources and imbalance of ecosystem. Pollutants containing various organic
and inorganic components including heavy metals into aquatic ecosystem lead to
their bioaccumulation and bioaugmentation. This could be reverted by conservation
of natural resources including biodiversity and utilizing their potential in bioremediation. The present paper is a conceptual review of researches carried out to assess
the efficiency of free floating macrophytes in bioremediation of heavy metals. A
periodic assessment of systematic literature can bring about the possibility of
effective utilization of aquatic plants in water treatment and pollution reduction
thereby ecosystem balance.
Keywords Bioremediation · Free floating macrophytes · Heavy metals
1 Introduction
1.1 Aquatic Angiosperm Diversity in Wetlands
In ancient time aquatic and wetland ecosystem were considered as unproductive,
worthless and sometimes detrimental, subsequently it illuminated with specific
ecological features, values and functions (Mishra and Tripathi 2009). The backbone
of aquatic ecosystem is its diversity of flora and fauna. Aquatic flora increases
productivity as well as asseverate the balance of an aquatic ecosystem. Though
global acceptance of aquatic biodiversity as sustainable life supports system, it
hardly acquires attention for scientific studies. Hence, potential of aquatic plants
remains quiescent since prehistoric times.
P. Parikh (*) · K. Unadkat
Department of Botany, The MS University of Baroda, Vadodara, Gujarat, India
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
J. Aravind et al. (eds.), Strategies and Tools for Pollutant Mitigation,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63575-6_15
309