Heat Resistance of Landfill Vegetation

Abstract

The heat resistance of vegetation at landfills is worth investigating for the determination of the optimal species‎for the biological reclamation phase. Insufficiency of experimental data on comparative stability of the stems‎and roots make it difficult to draw definitive conclusions about the heat resistance of the organs of the plants. It‎should be noted that many scientific works are devoted to the thermal stability of cultivated and agricultural plants.‎The reason is that the temperature conditions should be taken into account when growing vegetables, fruits and‎mushrooms. However, the heat resistance of weeds, specifically in landfills, has not been investigated thoroughly‎enough. Increased substrate temperatures at the landfill site, which are caused by the burning of waste, alter the‎microclimate, cause the greenhouse effect, and contribute to the climate change. The aim of the work was to investigate‎the heat resistance of 5 most common plant species that have evolved in the landfills of the Western Ukrainian‎Forest-Steppe District (Ukraine). The plant specimens were collected at the Lviv, Rava-Ruska and Chervonograd‎landfills. The heat resistance of landfill vegetation was determined according to the Matskov method during‎2015–2018. The following materials, reagents and equipment were used for the experiments: green leaves of 5‎species of the investigated plants (weeds) – wormwood (Artemisia vulgaris), absinthium (Artemisia absinthium),‎city goosefoot (Chenopodium urbicum), common burdock (Arctium lappa), dooryard plantain (Plantago major);‎0.2 N hydrochloric acid; heated bath, thermometers, pipettes, petri dishes, crystallizers, electric hot plate, marker.‎The experiments were conducted in triplicate. During the investigation of the heat resistance of the landfill vegetation,‎it was found that the most stable species are wormwoods (Artemisia) in all areas of the landfill, and the least‎heat-resistant is city goosefoot. The temperature of 70–80°C is detrimental to all of the tested plants. It was found‎that the lowest heat resistance is characteristic of the plants that develop at the foot of landfills.