Biometric indicators of growth and development of Lolium perenne and Trifolium repens in terms of recultivation of soil contaminated with petroleum

The aim of the research was to determine the factors defining the growth and development of Lolium perenne and Trifolium repens upon petroleum contamination. The top layer of clay soil contaminated with petroleum products resulting from an oil pipeline failure was collected for the tests. The control was the same type of uncontaminated soil with the addition of, under laboratory conditions, tissue paper. The research was conducted in two stages. The first concerned the germination process and seedlings parameters (Petri dishes). The germination energy (GE) and the germination capacity (GC) of seeds were determined. The seedling’s development was also evaluated based on ‘WinRhizo PRO 2009’ software. Then, in the second stage, pot tests were carried out, where the growth and development of species in the first year after sowing were temporarily measured. The parameters studied were the number, height, green and dry masses of the plants. A Gompertz regression model describing seed species germination and number species as time dependent dynamic was applied. The data were analysed statistically using variance analysis (ANOVA) and the PCA (principal component analysis) method. The results of our study indicated that admixture of petroleum into the soil does not seriously affect the development dynamics of Lolium perenne seedlings. The diesel oil contamination mostly affects the germination of the Trifolium repens by a statistically significant increase of the maximum value of germination and increasing the maximum growth rate.