Bioextraction of Soil Boron by Tall Fescue

• Published in: Ecotoxicology and environmental safety 1995-07, Vol.31 (2), p.110-116
• Main Authors: Banuelos, G.S., Mackey, B., Wu, L., Zambrzuski, S., Akohoue, S.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Boron - chemistry; Boron - isolation & purification; Boron - metabolism; California; Poaceae - chemistry; Poaceae - growth & development; Poaceae - metabolism; Soil Pollutants - metabolism; Trace Elements - metabolism
• ISSN: 0147-6513; 1090-2414
• DOI: 10.1006/eesa.1995.1050

High concentrations of soil B are detrimental to crop productivity in certain arid and semiarid regions of the western United States. Production of tall fescue on B-affected soils may be a viable strategy to reduce and maintain soil B concentrations at nontoxic levels for most agronomic crops. A 2-year field experiment was conducted to study B uptake in tall fescue ( Festuca arundinacea) Schreb, cv. Au Triumph grown in soil containing potentially toxic levels of native soil B. The soil B concentrations (water-extractable B greater than 5 mg B liter −1) did not affect the dry matter (DM) yield of tall fescue. Boron concentrations in shoot tissue for both years ranged from 88 to 121 mg B kg −1 DM, whereas in root tissue, concentrations ranged from 50 to 60 mg B kg −1 DM. For both years of the study, soil samples were taken at depth of 0-45 and 45-90 cm at the beginning and end of the designated growing season and analyzed for water-extractable B. Summary data from all cropped plots at the two soil depths indicated that the mean water-extractable B concentrations were reduced by 35% after 2 years in the tall fescue plots, whereas losses of extractable B from bare plots did not exceed 13% for both years. Tall fescue apparently can be used as a component in an overall strategy to lower extractable soil native B levels in irrigated agriculture soils and potentially reduce leaching of B into shallow ground water.