Groundcover was dominated by samphire (Sarcocornia quinqueflora) and Austral
seablite (Suaeda australis).
Seedlings of a variety of halophytic marsh species including Suaeda esteroa, estuary
seablite, and Salicornia bigelovii, dwarf pickleweed, and a variety of coastal sage scrub species like Atriplex canescens, four-wing salt bush, have been successfully grown in greenhouses and transplanted for restoration purposes (Zedler 2001, Francis 2009).
Lack of tolerance has been reported in other crops such as spinach (Spinacia oleracea) with 19.0 and 87.5% decrease in germination when exposed to 5.2 mg [L.sup.-1] and 15 mg [L.sup.-1] of cadmium, respectively (HOSSEINI et al., 2012; BAUTISTA et al., 2013); soybean (Glycine max) with 5 mg [L.sup.-1] cadmium reducing 8% germination (LI et al., 2013); chard (Beta vulgaris) and lettuce (Lactuca sativa), with 18.0 and 19.0% reduction in germination when exposed respectively to 5.2 mg [L.sup.-1] cadmium (BAUTISTA et al., 2013) and
seablite (Suaeda salsa), with a 18.0% decrease when exposed to 6.0 mg [L.sup.-1] cadmium (LIU et al., 2012).
These very diverse natural conditions have enable the survival of local species of plants like Suaeda maritima (
seablite) and Puccinellia distans (sweet grass), of various animal species, such as the Danube crested newt Triturus dobrogicus and theaEuropean fire-bellied toad Bombina bombina, as well as several threatened species of bat, like Miniopterus schreibersi.
Grindelia camporum; Mojave
seablite, Suaeda moquinii; and cattle saltbush, Atriplex polycarpa) were seeded into a fallowed, mustard-dominated (London rocket, Sisymbrium irio) site.