The study I chose had a research topic of what species of plants can be used to clean the contaminated soils of mine tailings and smelter activities. The specific question was whether screw bean mesquite could be used as a hyper accumulator of copper in contaminated soils. The Mesquite was grown in contaminated soils and after a specified time were dried and chemically altered in ways which allowed for examination of the amount of copper within the roots and leaves. After examination it was seen that mesquite accumulated a significant amount of copper without inhibiting it’s growth. The data needed were acts, or if Mesquite was able to accumulate copper. The collection method was detached observation, recordings of the percentages of copper among the various mesquite plants. The method of analysis was researcher centered, used a Pearsons correlation comparing the difference in mesquite copper amounts with plants grown in soils of different amounts of contaminations. Overall I think the research was valuable in determining the effectiveness of mesquite as a copper hyper accumulator, and the most interesting thing I found was exactly how much copper could be cleaned up using mesquite. The researchers calculated that over 4.1 years, 4.5 tons of copper per acre contaminated could be cleaned.

Zappala, Marian, et al. “Prosopis Pubescens (Screw Bean Mesquite) Seedlings Are Hyperaccumulators Of Copper.” Archives Of Environmental Contamination & Toxicology 65.2 (2013): 212-223. GreenFILE. Web. 10 Feb. 2017. <http://0-web.a.ebscohost.com.books.redlands.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=15&sid=1a26bcde-a165-4a93-add6-cf5f23b43cab%40sessionmgr4010&hid=4106>