Apricot shell- and apple tree-derived biochar affect the fractionation and bioavailability of Zn and Cd as well as the microbial activity in smelter contaminated soil

Amjad Ali; Sabry M Shaheen; Di Guo; Yiman Li; Ran Xiao; Fazli Wahid; Muhammad Azeem; Kamran Sohail; Tao Zhang; Jörg Rinklebe; Ronghua Li; Zengqiang Zhang

doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2020.114773

Apricot shell- and apple tree-derived biochar affect the fractionation and bioavailability of Zn and Cd as well as the microbial activity in smelter contaminated soil

Environ Pollut. 2020 Sep:264:114773. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2020.114773. Epub 2020 May 10.

Authors

Amjad Ali¹, Sabry M Shaheen², Di Guo¹, Yiman Li¹, Ran Xiao¹, Fazli Wahid³, Muhammad Azeem¹, Kamran Sohail⁴, Tao Zhang⁵, Jörg Rinklebe⁶, Ronghua Li¹, Zengqiang Zhang⁷

Affiliations

¹ College of Natural Resources and Environment, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, 712100, China.
² University of Wuppertal, School of Architecture and Civil Engineering, Institute of Foundation Engineering, Water- and Waste-Management, Laboratory of Soil-and Groundwater-Management, Pauluskirchstraße 7, 42285, Wuppertal, Germany; King Abdulaziz University, Faculty of Meteorology, Environment, and Arid Land Agriculture, Department of Arid Land Agriculture, Jeddah, 21589, Saudi Arabia; University of Kafrelsheikh, Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Soil and Water Sciences, Kafr El-Sheikh, 33516, Egypt.
³ Department of Agriculture, University of Swabi, Swabi, 23340, Pakistan.
⁴ Key Laboratory of Plant Protection Resources and Pest Management of the Ministry of Education, Entomological Museum, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, 712100, China; Department of Entomology, The University of Agriculture, Peshawar, 25130, Pakistan.
⁵ Beijing Key Laboratory of Farmland Soil Pollution Prevention and Remediation, Key Laboratory of Plant-Soil Interactions of Ministry of Education, Biomass Engineering Center, College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China; National Institute for Green Agriculture Development, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China.
⁶ University of Wuppertal, School of Architecture and Civil Engineering, Institute of Foundation Engineering, Water- and Waste-Management, Laboratory of Soil-and Groundwater-Management, Pauluskirchstraße 7, 42285, Wuppertal, Germany; Department of Environment, Energy and Geoinformatics, Sejong University, Seoul, 05006, Republic of Korea.
⁷ College of Natural Resources and Environment, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, 712100, China. Electronic address: zhangzq58@126.com.

PMID: 32438238
DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2020.114773

Abstract

The aim of this study was to elucidate the effects of apricot shell-derived biochar (ASB) and apple tree-derived biochar (ATB) on soil properties, plant growth, microbial communities, enzymatic activities, and Zn and Cd fractionation and phytoavailability in mining soils. Smelter soil contaminated by Zn (1860.0 mg kg^-1) and Cd (39.9 mg kg^-1) was collected from Fengxian, China, treated with different doses (0 (control), 1, 2.5, 5, and 10% w/w) of both biochars and cultivated by Brassica juncea in a greenhouse pot experiment. The acid-soluble, reducible, oxidizable, and residual fraction and plant tissue concentrations of Zn and Cd were determined. Biochar addition improved plant growth (22.6-29.4%), soil pH (up to 0.94 units), and soil organic matter (up to 4-fold) compared to the control. The ASB and ATB, particularly ATB, reduced the acid-soluble (21-26% for Zn and 15-35% for Cd) and the reducible (9-36% for Zn and 11-19% for Cd) fractions of Zn and Cd and altered these fractions in the organic and residual fractions. Therefore, the biochars decreased the metal concentrations in the roots (36-41% for Zn and 33-37% for Cd) and shoots (25-31% for Zn and 20-29% for Cd), which might be due to the increase in pH, biochar liming effects, and metal sorption by the biochar. The biochars impact on the bacterial community composition was selective. The ASB and ATB decreased the activities of soil β-glucosidase, dehydrogenase, and alkaline phosphatase while increasing the urease activity. The biochars, particularly ATB, can be considered as effective soil amendments for reducing the phytotoxicity of Zn and Cd in contaminated soils, improving plant growth, enhancing the abundance of specific bacterial groups and increasing urease activity; however, more attention should be paid to their negative effects on the activities of β-glucosidase, dehydrogenase, and alkaline phosphatase.

Keywords: Enzymes activity; Mining soils; Oil-producing crops; Potentially toxic metal(loid)s; Wood biochar.

MeSH terms

Biological Availability
Cadmium
Charcoal
China
Malus*
Metals, Heavy / analysis*
Prunus armeniaca*
Soil
Soil Pollutants / analysis*
Zinc / analysis

Substances

Metals, Heavy
Soil
Soil Pollutants
biochar
Cadmium
Charcoal
Zinc