Abstract
Crop growth and development can be influenced by a range of parameters, soil health, cultivation and nutrient status all play a major role. Nutrient status of plants can be enhanced both through chemical fertiliser additions (e.g. N, P, K supplementation) or microbial fixation and mobilisation of naturally occurring nutrients. With current EU priorities discouraging the production of biomass on high quality soils there is a need to investigate the potential of more marginal soils to produce these feedstocks and the impacts of soil amendments on crop yields within them. This study investigated the potential for Miscanthus x giganteus to be grown in trace element (TE)-contaminated soils, ideally offering a mechanism to (phyto)manage these contaminated lands.
Comprehensive surveys are needed to understand plant-soil interactions under these conditions. Here we studied the impacts of two fertiliser treatments on soil physico-chemical properties under Miscanthus x giganteus cultivated on Pb, Cd and Zn contaminated arable land. Results covered a range of parameters, including soil rhizosphere activity, arbuscular mycorrhization (AM), as well as plant physiological parameters associated with photosynthesis, TE leaf concentrations and growth performance.
Fertilization increased growth and gas exchange capacity, enhanced rhizosphere microbial activity and increased Zn, Mg and N leaf concentration. Fertilization reduced root colonisation by AMF and caused higher chlorophyll concentration in plant leaves. Microbial inoculation seems to be a promising alternative for chemical fertilizers, especially due to an insignificant influence on the mobility of toxic trace elements (particularly Cd and Zn).
Comprehensive surveys are needed to understand plant-soil interactions under these conditions. Here we studied the impacts of two fertiliser treatments on soil physico-chemical properties under Miscanthus x giganteus cultivated on Pb, Cd and Zn contaminated arable land. Results covered a range of parameters, including soil rhizosphere activity, arbuscular mycorrhization (AM), as well as plant physiological parameters associated with photosynthesis, TE leaf concentrations and growth performance.
Fertilization increased growth and gas exchange capacity, enhanced rhizosphere microbial activity and increased Zn, Mg and N leaf concentration. Fertilization reduced root colonisation by AMF and caused higher chlorophyll concentration in plant leaves. Microbial inoculation seems to be a promising alternative for chemical fertilizers, especially due to an insignificant influence on the mobility of toxic trace elements (particularly Cd and Zn).
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 163-174 |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| Journal | Environmental Pollution |
| Volume | 225 |
| Early online date | 31 Mar 2017 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Jun 2017 |
Bibliographical note
AcknowledgementsThe project is implemented under Maria Curie e Skłodowska Actions of the 7 Framework Programme of the EU (Grant agreement No. 610797). The authors would like to thank Miss Katarzyna Cieslinska for support in microscopic analyses.
Authors contributions are as follows: M.P. planned and design the research, wrote the manuscript (60%), S.R., K.S. performed the experiments, analysed data, conducted field work (10%), J.K. planned and design the research, wrote the manuscript (10%), E.M., H.M.K. wrote the manuscript (5%), A.S., D.C., performed experiments, S.W., J.P.M., M.M. comments, improvements and English corrections.
Keywords
- Lead
- Cadmium
- Zinc
- Photosynthesis
- Microbial Activity
- Arbuscular mycorrihiza
