Soil Heavy Metal Content and Enzyme Activity in Uncaria rhynchophylla-Producing Areas under Different Land Use Patterns

Xiuyuan Yang; Zhenming Zhang; Chao Sun; Xianping Zeng

doi:10.3390/ijerph191912220

Soil Heavy Metal Content and Enzyme Activity in Uncaria rhynchophylla-Producing Areas under Different Land Use Patterns

Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Sep 27;19(19):12220. doi: 10.3390/ijerph191912220.

Authors

Xiuyuan Yang¹, Zhenming Zhang¹, Chao Sun², Xianping Zeng³

Affiliations

¹ College of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, China.
² Key Laboratory of Chemistry for Natural Products of Guizhou Province and Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang 550025, China.
³ Zunyi Rural Development Service Center, Zunyi 563000, China.

Abstract

In this study, we investigated the content of soil heavy metals, the level of heavy metal pollution and the characteristics of soil enzyme activity under three different land use patterns of Uncaria rhynchophylla base, forestland and wasteland in Jianhe County, Qiandongnan Prefecture, Guizhou Province, revealing the intrinsic correlation between heavy metal content and soil enzyme activity to reveal the relationship between soil enzyme activity and heavy metal content under different land use patterns in the Uncaria rhynchophylla production area. The results showed that soil Cd and Hg contents in Uncaria rhynchophylla base both exceeded the national soil background value. The single pollution index indicated that Cd had the greatest contribution to P_n, and the comprehensive pollution index (P_n) demonstrated no heavy metal pollution in the soil of Uncaria rhynchophylla-producing areas. Under different land use patterns, the enzyme activity was forestland > wasteland > Uncaria rhynchophylla base, and catalase and acid phosphatase activities presented significant spatial differences (p < 0.05). The correlation between soil enzyme activity and heavy metal content was uncertain due to the changes in land use patterns and heavy metal species. The proportions of positive correlation and negative correlation between soil enzyme activity and heavy metals in Uncaria rhynchophylla base were 50%, respectively. In the forestland, soil enzyme activity was positively correlated with heavy metals, while in the wasteland, soil enzyme activity was negatively correlated with heavy metals. This study revealed that the changes in heavy metal content should be focused on for the soil quality in Uncaria rhynchophylla-producing areas under different land use patterns. The results of the study provide some basic theoretical references for the improvement of soil quality in the production area of Uncaria rhynchophylla under different land use practices.

Keywords: Uncaria rhynchophylla; correlation; enzyme activity; heavy metal content; land use.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Acid Phosphatase
Cadmium
Catalase
China
Environmental Monitoring
Mercury*
Metals, Heavy* / analysis
Risk Assessment
Soil
Soil Pollutants* / analysis
Uncaria

Substances

Metals, Heavy
Soil
Soil Pollutants
Cadmium
Catalase
Acid Phosphatase
Mercury

Supplementary concepts

Uncaria rhynchophylla

Grants and funding

This work was financially supported by the Guizhou Provincial high-level innovative talents training funding project (QKHPTRC [2016] 5666); Guizhou excellent young scientific and Technological Talents Project (QKHPTRC [2021] 5631).