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Effects of biochar amendment on root traits and contaminant availability of maize plants in a copper and arsenic impacted soil

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Abstract

Background and aims

Biochar has been proposed as a tool to enhance phytostabilisation of contaminated soils but little data are available to illustrate the direct effect on roots in contaminated soils. This work aimed to investigate specific root traits and to assess the effect of biochar amendment on contaminant availability.

Methods

Amendment with two different types of biochar, pine woodchip and olive tree pruning, was assessed in a rhizobox experiment with maize planted in a soil contaminated with significant levels of copper and arsenic.

Results

Amendment was found to significantly improve root traits compared to the control soil, particularly root mass density and root length density. Copper uptake to plants and ammonium sulphate extractable copper was significantly less in the biochar amended soils. Arsenic uptake and extractability varied with type of biochar used but was not considered to be the limiting factor affecting root and shoot development.

Conclusions

Root establishment in contaminated soils can be enhanced by biochar amendment but choice of biochar is key to maximising soil improvement and controlling contaminant availability.

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Acknowledgements

This work was carried out as part of a STSM awarded to the lead author by EU COST Action TD1107 Biochar as an option for sustainable resource management. We thank Dr Peter Anderson at SETN (Scottish Environmental Technology Network) for the IC analysis. We thank Dr Saran Sohi of the UKBRC (UK Biochar Research Centre, University of Edinburgh), Edinburgh, for checking the manuscript before submission. We also thank the two anonymous reviewers for improving the manuscript with their comments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK

    Aoife Brennan & Christine Switzer

  2. Departamento de Química Agrícola, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049, Madrid, Spain

    Eduardo Moreno Jiménez

  3. Department of Forest and Soil Sciences, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna, Konrad Lorenz Straße 24, 3430, Tulln, Austria

    Markus Puschenreiter

  4. Área de Ecología, Departamento de Botánica, Ecología y Fisiología Vegetal, Universidad de Córdoba, 14071, Córdoba, Spain

    José Antonio Alburquerque

Authors
  1. Aoife Brennan
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  2. Eduardo Moreno Jiménez
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  3. Markus Puschenreiter
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  4. José Antonio Alburquerque
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  5. Christine Switzer
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Aoife Brennan.

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Responsible Editor: Simon Jeffery.

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Brennan, A., Jiménez, E.M., Puschenreiter, M. et al. Effects of biochar amendment on root traits and contaminant availability of maize plants in a copper and arsenic impacted soil. Plant Soil 379, 351–360 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-014-2074-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-014-2074-0

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