Screening of Halophytic Plants for the Use in Salt Phytoremediation: A Systematic Approach Based on Multi-criteria Decision Making

Salt phytoremediation, which means reducing salinity of soil or water using halophytic plants, has been the subject of several studies in recent years. Despite numerous investigations in this area, the problem with the use of halophytic plants for salt phytoremediation is the selection of suitable plants from their large population or, in other words, screening of halophytic plants for salt phytoremediation. In this paper, by limiting the screening work to 12 annual plant species of the Chenopodiaceae family, the Shannon Entropy -TOPSIS Multi-Criteria Decision Making Method has been used for this purpose. Evaluation was done on the basis of criteria such as biomass production, salinity mechanism, flowering time, geographical distribution in Iran and agronomic capability. The Shannon entropy method was used to rank and weight the criteria and the TOPSIS method was used to determine the relative preference of the studied species. The results indicated that Atriplex Tatarica, Bassia Moricata and Salsola Kali were the top three among the 12 plant species studied. Therefore, their use in experimental phytoremediation of salt plants seems to be a priority.