Common reed (Phragmites australis (Cav.) Trin. ex Steudel) as a candidate for predicting heavy metal contamination in Lake Burullus, Egypt: A biomonitoring approach

The current study aims to form new prediction models to approximate the possible uptake of six heavy metals (HMs) (Cd, Cu, Fe, Ni, Pb and Zn) in Phragmites australis tissues, including stems, leaves and belowground tissues (BGT). Samples of different plant tissues from two populations with different ages and sediments were collected monthly during one growing season (January–December) from 9 sites at Lake Burullus, and the tissues were analysed. A nonsignificant difference was observed between the actual and predicted quantities of HMs in the three tissues using t values, which reflects the goodness of fit of these equations for predicting the uptake of these HMs. Such types of equations may be helpful for evaluating the potential of this plant to phytoremediate these six HMs in Lake Burullus.