Biogeochemical Studies in Some Copper Rich Areas of Singhbhum Copper Belt, Bihar, India

Forty eight plant species (528 plant samples) from the Singhbhum copper belt were examined and their relationships with soil copper gradient were assessed. Syzygium cumini, Woodfordia fruticosa, Cleistanthus collinus and Buchanania lanzan are observed to grow in very high soil copper concentration maintaining remarkably moderate levels of copper in their bioparts. Results of Student's 't' test suggests that some species exhibit preferential concentration of copper in different bioparts. Copper levels estimated in Anogeissus latifolia, Butea frondosa, Cleistanthus collinus, Croton roxburghii, Syzygium cumini, Mitragyna parvifolia, Gardenia gummifera, Nyctanthes arbortristis. Shorea robusta and Terminalia crenulata showed significant relationships with that of soil copper. However, none of the plants examined can be graded as 'hyperaccumulators'or 'accumulators".