Manuscript Title:

EFFECTS OF INORGANIC SOIL AMENDMENTS ON THE ARSENIC UPTAKE AND GROWTH OF THREE EARLY STAGED LEGUMINOUS TREE SPECIES IN ARSENIC CONTAMINATED SOILS

Author:

FARAH EJAZ, MUHAMMAD FARRAKH NAWAZ, NABEEL KHAN NAIZI, IRFAN AHMAD, NADEEM AKBAR

DOI Number:

DOI:10.5281/zenodo.11178838

Published : 2024-05-10

About the author(s)

1. FARAH EJAZ - Department of Forestry and Range Management, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan.
2. MUHAMMAD FARRAKH NAWAZ - Department of Forestry and Range Management, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan, Institute of Environmental Studies, University of Karachi, Karachi, Pakistan.
3. NABEEL KHAN NAIZI - Institute of Soil and Environmental Sciences, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan.
4. IRFAN AHMAD - Department of Forestry and Range Management, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan.
5. NADEEM AKBAR - Department of Agronomy, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan.

Full Text : PDF

Abstract

Arsenic (As) pollution is a worldwide environmental issue due to the lethal and cancer-causing nature of as compounds. Inorganic amendments are widely reported to ameliorate heavy metal polluted soils by reducing the heavy metal mobility and enhancing the plant growth. The objectives of this study were to examine the effects of four soil inorganic amendments (Lignite (L), citric acid (CA), ferric oxide (FO) and gypsum (G)) on arsenic (As) bioavailability, As uptake and growth of selected three agroforestry leguminous trees species (Acacia ampliceps, Vachellia nilotica and Dalbergia sissoo) in As contaminated soil. A pot experiment was carried out in controlled conditions under two factor factorial completely randomized design. Pysico-chemical properties of soils along with several morphological, physiological and biochemical plant traits were examined to understand the growth of trees and As behavior under diverse conditions. Results indicated that gypsum was best inorganic amendment for all three species. The maximum shoot length (51.90 ± 0.49 cm), shoot diameter (9.84 ± 0.095 mm), , shoot dry weight (24.72 ± 0.16 g), branch dry weight (14.31 ± 0.09 g), root dry weight (27.88 ± 0.26 g), photosynthetic rate (7.24 ± 0.038 μ moles CO2 m-2 s -1 ), stomatal conductance (0.34 ± 0.003 mol H2Om-2 s -1 ), and the minimum arsenic (As) concentration in roots, shoots and leaves (20.34 ± 0.13, 7.48 ± 0.04 and 0.100 ± 0.001 mg/kg DW) were found in the plants of Acacia ampliceps treated with gypsum. The physiological attributes and growth trends for the tree species under all the treatments was noted as A. ampliceps > V. nilotica > D. sissoo while for the treatments was G > FO > L > CA > control. From this study, we concluded that arsenic (As) negatively affected plant’s growth. Inorganic amendments, especially, gypsum was more useful to enhance growth of selected agroforestry tree species in arsenic contaminated soils.


Keywords

Phytoremediation, Agroforestry, Soil Pollution, Heavy Metal Contamination.