Talk:Hyperaccumulator

Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment

This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 22 February 2021 and 21 May 2021. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Mahamwiki, M24bout.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 22:44, 17 January 2022 (UTC)

Question

Do hyperaccumulators use the metals that they accumulate? Kortoso (talk) 17:00, 13 May 2014 (UTC)

Mushrooms

Shouldn't we include mushrooms in the page, as they are often hyperaccumulators and often used in remediation for their capacity of absorbing a lot of heavy metals? What about mushrooms absorbing radiations? They should fit the definition too

Beleriandcrises (talk) 21:21, 7 September 2017 (UTC)

Merge proposal

• Phytoextraction process (5,613 bytes) is closely related to hyperaccumulator (21500 bytes), it's how they work (supposedly).
• Phytoextraction process and hyperaccumulators are homework projects written by and imposed upon undergraduates.
• The articles are thin and have weak referencing. There is no technology and little serious scientific interest in these themes.
• It is probably better for readers and definitely better for editors if we maintain one article vs two weak ones.
• Phytomining (5600 bytes) could also be merged into this article since phytomining, another aspirational but uneconomic concept, relies on hyperaccumulators.
• Metallophyte (3300 bytes), yet another topic of homework, assignment, describes plant "that can tolerate high levels of heavy metals such as lead." Some definitional hair-splitting.

• Phytoremediation (47,000 bytes), also a target for some homework, seems to be pretty flawed. It appears to rely on or heavily invoke the above topics. Reconciling phytoremediation and hyperaccumulator is probably a future project.

--Smokefoot (talk) 11:51, 13 March 2026 (UTC)

Wiki Education assignment: Introduction to Environmental Sciences

This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 12 January 2026 and 27 April 2026. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): NorAlma.M (article contribs). Peer reviewers: IliterateKit.

— Assignment last updated by MethanoJen (talk) 22:40, 4 April 2026 (UTC)

Hyperaccumulators and metallophytes definitions

Currently this article has listed that "A metallophyte are a subset of hyperaccummulators."

However, multiple sources claim that hyperaccumulators are a subgroup of metallophytes (Metal Hyperaccumulators as Models for Adaptation to Extreme Environments, Removal of Heavy Metals in Contaminated Soil by Phytoremediation Mechanism: a Review. - Document - Gale In Context: Environmental Studies, Metallophytes--a view from the rhizosphere. - Document - Gale OneFile: Agriculture

I would like to discuss whether this is grounds for renaming this article to Metallophytes or if the merge of the two articles should be undone.

@Smokefoot @Ottercivet @Anieluong @Quebec99

NorAlma.M (talk) 14:19, 31 March 2026 (UTC)

Good idea to reconsider the organization. Can we wait for the homework kids to end their business and then can dig in? Also can you give real sources (doi's preferably) vs your library link? --Smokefoot (talk) 14:56, 31 March 2026 (UTC)

Lol 😭 as a “homework kid” is there any issues with anything I have added to this section? Do give feedback, thank you 🙏 :) also I have followed this page so I do plan to keep up with edits here, and I think I agree that research would help understand this idea… super interesting perspective Ottercivet (talk) 15:18, 31 March 2026 (UTC)

I appreciate your suggestion to revisit later. I do want to clarify that I am actively working on this topic (metallophytes) as part of a course project with a defined timeline (draft edits due this week), so I am hoping we can move forward constructively rather than pause.

Regarding sources, here are the DOI's to the latter two links, indicating that hyperaccumulators are a subset of metallophytes:

• http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11270-020-4426-0
• http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11104-010-0482-3

Both of which are already cited within this wiki page. Based on these sources, the current uncited statement on the page appears to be inaccurate, so I think this should be revisited.

I'm happy to collaborate on improving the structure as that is what I am here to do and was working on prior to my assigned article being merged here.

Thanks again, and I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

NorAlma.M (talk) 15:42, 31 March 2026 (UTC)

Maybe one of you can explain the difference between hyperaccumulator and a metallophyte. It would be good to resolve this issue. --Smokefoot (talk) 20:57, 31 March 2026 (UTC)

Hi, after doing some reading, I see that this is true. metallophytes, similar to halophytes in saline soils, tolerate and or thrive in these respective soil conditions. however a metallophyte may not necessarily be a hyperaccumulator. according to table 4 in http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11270-020-4426-0 , metallophytes have been grouped into excluders (roots only), indicators (roots + shoots), OR hyperaccumulators (high concentrations, especially in leaves). Species identified as metallophyte hyperaccumulators store enough metal to be species used for things like Phyto mining. the article also mentions that the high accumulation in hyperaccumulators deters herbivores, preventing food chain biomagnification, and have a relatively higher tolerance to said heavy metal.

This would indicate a lot of restructuring for this page if it were seen that these categories are an accurate reflection of metallophytes as a group.

Additionally wondering what this would imply for the list of hyperaccumulators page, given that there appears to be a lot of nuance in terms of how much metal plants hold, and how they are held, and how they physiologically respond to these factors, which makes them a hyperaccumulator.

lots to think about! Ottercivet (talk) 23:39, 31 March 2026 (UTC)

Also, to clear the definition of hyperaccumulator up (for my sake and anyone elses), the term "hyperaccumulator" applies only to metallophytes, not any plant that "hyperaccumulates" any other sort of soil element:

• https://doi.org/10.1080/15226514.2024.2322631
• https://doi.org/10.1016/j.plantsci.2012.06.012

Ottercivet (talk) 23:53, 31 March 2026 (UTC)

Helpful comments. Its not your responsibility, but it would be great to find textbook definitions and especially a definition that has a statement like "In contrast to hyperaccumulators, metallophtes ... " or the reverse "In contrast to metallophtes, hyperaccumulators ... ". I need a day or two to check around.

Here are some potential broader issues:

• • • • many people really, really want this theme to be useful, but there is almost no evidence that metallophtes or hyperaccumulators are good for anything in a practical sense. They remain curiosities. Lots of wishing and many test plots and many examples of plants growing on polluted soil, but solving problems?... not any examples.
      • Tree-huggers would love for this theme to be useful (so would I) but its mostly aspirational. So we have a conflict between what people wished was true (plants cleaning up polluted sites) vs reality. Ditto for the entire area of phytoremediation. Bioremediation is different - microorganisms are used in some niches of mining.
      • The problem with student-homeworkers is that (to sound slightly cynical), you folks actually believe what you read: vague promises from academics. --Smokefoot (talk) 03:10, 1 April 2026 (UTC).

        I don’t think anyone has mentioned anything about phytorem right now (aside from the articles) anyways I am picking up what you are putting down. Enough new edits from the “student homeworker”… Btw, Raven Biology of plants 8th edition 2013, pg 705-706, detailed hyper accumulator definition. No metallophytes mentioned though. Ottercivet (talk) 03:46, 1 April 2026 (UTC)

        The bit does open with “Plants that tolerate high concentrations of potentially toxic metals such as ….. are being investigated as part of phytoremediation strategies to restore soils around old smelters, metal finishers, and nuclear weapons plants and more. Of special interest are plants known as hyperaccumulators, …” those “plants that tolerate” = metallophytes ? Interesting Ottercivet (talk) 03:51, 1 April 2026 (UTC)

        I can edit and provide citations to support clear definitions for both metallophytes and hyperaccumulators based on the sources @Ottercivet and I have now read (above). Otherwise, for now I will focus on the current metallophyte section, rather than redoing the entire structure of the article. If either of you wish to see updates, I can send the sandbox link.

        I plan to provide further information on the other types of metallophytes as well. I will try to steer clear of other sections in case others would like to continue working on them.

        Even if the page is eventually renamed or restructured, it still makes sense to include more detail on hyperaccumulators than the other types of metallophytes as they have been subject to further research and reviews in scientific literature. I also agree we should stick to primarily review sources and avoid delving too deeply into speculative theories or primary research studies.

        I noticed there are many citations, so if someone would like to go through and make sure all of them are necessary, that may also help clean up the page. This can also wait for a later time if needed.

        NorAlma.M (talk) 19:11, 1 April 2026 (UTC)

        I agree, clear revisions of the definitions are so needed!! Also, including more info on the listed types of metallophytes would be insightful. I’ll go through my citations as I may have repeated some within the subsection I added (genetic engineering of hyperaccumulators). I understand that that falls under a speculative topic, but I felt it was important to add because it seems to be a large research area for the actual application of hyperaccumulators. Others I welcome to edit it as they like pls 🙏, remove it entirely, etc… Yesterday I tried to add another bit about the limitations of primary studies on gen eng of the plants to remove any Hint of bias I may have insinuated inadvertently lol. Ottercivet (talk) 19:43, 1 April 2026 (UTC)