Abstract: Effects of growth of Pteris vittata on enzyme activities in rhizosphere soil of copper mining tailings were studied by means of pot experiments. Results show that with P. vittata growing, the activities of catalase, urease polyphenoloxidase and invertase increased to a varying extent. The activities of both catalase and urease were significantly positively related to duration of the growth, and the activities of both polyphenoloxidase and invertase peaked during the vigorous growth period of the plant, being approximately 3.59 and 2.58 times as high as that in the control, separately, and then gradually decreased. However, the activity of phosphatase displayed a reverse trend. Compared with the aboveground parts of the plant in dry weight, the underground parts showed a stronger correlation with the activities of catalase, urease and phosphatase, and the activities of the five soil enzymes in the rhizosphere soil were positively related to the content of organic matter. In summary, the growth of P.vittata significantly improved fertility of the rhizosphere soils. Therefore, P.vittata exhibits great potential in remedying deserted copper-minings.

Key words: Pteris vittata, copper mine tailings, soil enzyme, rhizosphere, phytoremediation