Phytostabilisation potential of giant reed for metals contaminated soil modified with complex organic fertiliser and fly ash: A field experiment

Sci Total Environ. 2017 Jan 15:576:292-302. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.10.065. Epub 2016 Oct 24.

Abstract

An orthogonal field experiment of giant reed (Arundo donax) modified with organic complex fertiliser (OCF), and OCF and fly ash (O&F), at different planting densities was carried out in metal-contaminated soil. The available percentage of arsenic (As) and lead (Pb) in soil decreased from 8.45% to 2.19% and from 29.6% to 13.5% by OCF, respectively, and that of cadmium (Cd) was reduced from 25.3% to 6.49% by O&F. The total biomass of giant reed was 631g per individual following application of O&F in contaminated soil. The accumulation of As, Cd, and Pb in giant reed was 1.57, 4.06, and 11.25mg per individual. Urease and sucrase activity were 87.4NH4-Nμg/gd and 63.1glucosemg/gd in response to the treatments modified using OCF, while the highest dehydrogenase activity was 101 TPF (triphenyltetrazolium formazan) μg/gd in the treatments modified using O&F. Dominant bacteria (frequency>50%) were enriched with increasing planting density of giant reed. These results indicate that the phytostabilisation of metal-contaminated soil by giant reed could be improved by the application of O&F or OCF.

Keywords: Arundo donax; Eco-remediation; Metalloids; Metals; Soil enzyme activity; Soil microbial diversity.