Abstract
Purpose
We aimed to examine the effects of spatial heterogeneity on Zn/Cd removal efficiency by the Zn/Cd hyperaccumulator Sedum alfredii grown on agricultural soil contaminated with mine waste.
Materials and methods
Field-collected metal-contaminated agricultural soils were arranged in pots either homogeneously or heterogeneously in “half” or “quarter” patterns. Young shoots of S. alfredii were grown on these substrates in a greenhouse.
Results and discussion
The efficiency of Zn and Cd removal from soil by S. alfredii was highest in the “quarter” pattern heterogeneous treatment, in which the percentages of total soil Zn and Cd extracted were 8.02 and 7.27, respectively. Comparing the two heterogeneous treatments, the amounts of Zn and Cd accumulated in S. alfredii shoots were significantly greater in the “quarter” pattern heterogeneous treatment than in the “half” pattern treatment.
Conclusions
We concluded that the efficiency of Zn/Cd removal increased as the scale of spatial heterogeneity decreased from “half” to “quarter”. These results may have important implications for the efficiency of phytoremediation by hyperaccumulators in the field.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Dr. Xinxian Long from South China Agriculture University for the plant materials. The present research is financially supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China (no. 40901151, 31000248, 41225004) and Ph.D. Programs Foundation of Ministry of Education of China (no. 20110171110018).
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Tang, L., Tang, Y., Zheng, G. et al. Spatial heterogeneity effects of Zn/Cd-contaminated soil on the removal efficiency by the hyperaccumulator Sedum alfredii . J Soils Sediments 14, 948–954 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-013-0833-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-013-0833-9