## 4 Conclusions  
Determining the significant players in any environmental situation is difficult due to complex nexuses among various abiotic and biotic factors. Our study found soil textural properties and plant-biomass to be the significant drivers, considerably affecting the heavy metals concentration and its phytoremediation by _X. strumarium_. Here, we derived an unequivocal conclusion that this effect might be due to the metalloprotein nature of the soil at all the abandoned sites. Based on our studies, we concluded that: (1) this plant species falls under the category of facultative metallophytes (pseudometallophyte) having the ability to grow on both polluted and non-polluted soils; (2) this plant species accumulates ample quantities of bioavailable Pb, Zn, Cu, and Cd in roots and efficiently translocate to aboveground parts (i.e., stems, leaves, and fruits), hence this IAPS growing on such abandoned habitats can be used for Pb phytoextraction and phytostabilization of Cd, Cu, and Zn; and (3) concentration of Pb, Cu, and Cd were found above the threshold indicating the stress tolerance of _X. strumarium_ to grow on metals contaminated soils, making this plant species unsuitable for forage, medicinal, and phytochemical purposes. As demonstrated in this research, the essential ecosystem services provided by these IAPS are of great environmental significance. They need to be explored in the future using well-established and sophisticated biotechnological approaches. The study was designed and supervised by N.K. ; The field and laboratory work, data analysis, and manuscript writing was carried out by [PERSON] and N.K. ; [PERSON] also contributed to manuscript writing; [PERSON] contributed a lot to statistical analysis and data refining; and D.A.J. provide key background information in the phytoremediation potentials and edit the manuscript  
Figure 3: PCA-biplot depicting relationships between metal bio-concentration, accumulation and translocation factors of metals with soil spatial and textural properties at different abandoned habitats in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Note: St (Stand), St.1 (KTS (Kanju Town Junction)), St.2 (GTM (GT Road Mingora)), St.3 (SKK (Skhakot Road)), St. 4 (SMR (Shamozu Road)), St. 5 (PC (Peshawar)), St. 6 (HIZ (Hayatabad Industrial Zone)), St. 7 (MKI (Mardan Kid Industry)), St. 8 (BKP (Barikot Crush Plant)), St. 9 (CUA (Charsadda Urban)), St. 10 (MSM (Mardan Shiekh Malton)), St. 11 (TFN (Tarnab Form)), St. 12 (TBM (Takht Bhai)), St. 13 (GCD (Gulabad College Degree)), St. 14 (AMS (Amankot)), St. 15 (CBS (Charbagh street)). in a better way for language editing; [PERSON] also contributed to data analysis and tabulation. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript. This research APC was funded by College of North Atlantic-Qatar (CNA-Q) under Seed Grant 2020, grant number SEED2020_11. An IOAP discount of 10% was applied due to membership with the Qatar National Library. Not applicable. This research APC was funded by College of North Atlantic-Qatar (CNA-Q) under Seed Grant 2020, grant number SEED2020_11. An IOAP discount of 10% was applied due to membership with the Qatar National Library. Not applicable. This research APC was funded by College of North Atlantic-Qatar (CNA-Q) under Seed Grant 2020, grant number SEED2020_11. An IOAP discount of 10% was applied due to membership with the Qatar National Library. Not applicable. * _[PERSON] et al. (2003)_ [PERSON]; [PERSON]; [PERSON] Assessing the potential for zinc and cadmium phytoremediation with the hyperaccumulator Thlaspi cearulescens. _Plant Soil_**2003**, _249_, 37-43. [CrossRef]
* _[PERSON] et al. (2015)_ [PERSON]; [PERSON]; [PERSON] Bioavailability and bioaccumulation characterisation of essential and heavy metals contents in R. _acetosa_, _S. oleracea_ and _U. dioica_ from copper polluted and referent areas. _J. Environ. Health Sci. Eng._**2015**, _13_, 1-13. * _[PERSON] et al. (2007)_ [PERSON]; [PERSON]; [PERSON]; [PERSON] Phytoextraction of heavy metals by eight plant species in the field.