The flora of Papua New Guinea is amongst the richest in the world with an estimated 25,000 plant species. The extreme levels of biodiversity, climatic ranges and soil types suggest a high possibility of metal hyperaccumulator plants existing in Papua New Guinea. However, no hyperaccumulator plants have been reported from this region yet. The use of handheld X-ray fluorescence instruments is a non-destructive and effective method for the systematic quantitative assessment of hyperaccumulation in vast numbers of herbarium specimens. X-ray fluorescence scanning was undertaken at the Queensland Herbarium (Australia) on all Papua New Guinea specimens from seven major families (Celastraceae, Cunoniaceae, Phyllanthaceae, Proteaceae, Rubiaceae, Salicaceae and Violaceae), covering 3164 plant specimens. This preliminary survey revealed the existence of ten zinc hyperaccumulator species (> 3000 µg g⁻¹ Zn), eight manganese accumulator species (> 5000 µg g⁻¹ Mn) and one nickel hyperaccumulator species (> 1000 µg g⁻¹ Ni). These results highlight the potential for discovery of numerous new metal hyperaccumulator plants from the flora of Papua New Guinea if larger-scale systematic screening efforts were undertaken.

中文翻译：

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植物标本室X射线荧光扫描对巴布亚新几内亚植物区系镍，锰和锌（超）积累的初步调查

巴布亚新几内亚的植物群是世界上最丰富的植物之一，估计有25,000种植物。生物多样性，气候范围和土壤类型的极端水平表明，巴布亚新几内亚存在金属超富集植物的可能性很高。但是，尚未从该地区报告过富集植物。手持式X射线荧光仪器的使用是一种无损且有效的方法，可以系统地定量评估大量植物标本室样本中的高积累。在昆士兰植物标本室（澳大利亚）上对来自七个主要科（凤尾藻科，木犀科，菊科，Proteaceae，茜草科，水杨科和紫堇科）的所有巴布亚新几内亚标本进行了X射线荧光扫描。^-1锌），八种锰蓄电池（> 5000 µg g ^-1 Mn）和一种镍超蓄电池（> 1000 µg g ^-1 Ni）。这些结果突出表明，如果进行大规模的系统筛选工作，则可能从巴布亚新几内亚的植物中发现许多新的金属超富集植物。