effects of contamination of soil with copper, lead and arsenic on the growth and composition of plants. I. Effects of season, genotype, soil temperature and fertilizers

• Published in: Plant and soil 1986-01, Vol.91 (1), p.115-128
• Main Authors: Merry, R.H, Tiller, K.G, Alston, A.M
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agronomy. Soil science and plant productions; Arsenic; Biological and medical sciences; Copper; fertilizers; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; genotype; Lead; mine spoil; Nitrogen; Orchard soils; Plant roots; Plants; seasonal variation; Silver; Soil and water pollution; Soil composition; Soil pollution; Soil science; soil temperature; spraying
• ISSN: 0032-079X; 1573-5036
• DOI: 10.1007/BF02181824

Accumulations of copper, lead and arsenic in soils affected by orchard sprays or mining were investigated in relation to their effects on growth and composition of plants. Seasonal variations in concentrations of the elements in pasture plants sampled from contaminated soils in the field are reported. The effects of soil temperature and applications of the nutrients P, S and N on the composition of plants grown in contaminated soils were investigated in glasshouse experiments. The copper concentrations of pasture species sampled from sites which were formerly orchards were usually high (20 to 60 mg kg⁻¹) during most of the growing season and may present some risk of toxicity to grazing ruminant animals. Lead (0.8 to 21 mg kg⁻¹) and arsenic (< 0.2 to 5.8 mg kg⁻¹) concentrations were within, or close to the normal range of concentration in plants. In the glasshouse experiments, soil temperature was found to be an important factor in the uptake of copper, lead and arsenic. There were significant differences in uptake between genotypes. Applications of fertilizers at rates equivalent to those used for commercial vegetable production generally resulted in small decreases in the concentrations of copper, lead and arsenic concentrations in silver beet.