Forage Grass for Phytoremediation of Heavy Metal Polluted Soils and the Potential for Its Comprehensive Utilization: A Review

Forages are easy to cultivate and have high biomass and high yields, which endows its broad application prospect in heavy metal-contaminated soil. Forages are available as both low-accumulation for feed or high-accumulation for phytoremediation. Meanwhile, forages are also important plants for biomass energy and soil pollution remediation. The advantages, accumulation characteristics, response mechanism of forages in the treatment of heavy metal contaminated soil, and the application and benefit evaluation of main forage grasses in the treatment of heavy metal contaminated soil were reviewed. The excellent forage species of Gramineae and Leguminosae with potential for remediation of heavy metal contaminated soils in China were identified and analyzed. The varietal differences on absorbing and accumulating heavy metals, the response and mechanism of forage under single/compound metal stress were also described. The review is intented to provide theoretical basis and practical reference for the treatment of heavy metal contaminated soil by forages and the comprehensive utilization of the forages.