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Impacts of Land Uses on Mercury Retention in Long-Time Cultivated Soils, Brazilian Amazon

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Abstract

Many studies have shown the relationship between fire clearing and mercury contamination of aquatic ecosystems in the Brazilian Amazon. This study aimed at quantifying mercury content in long-time cultivated soils and at assessing the potential of a fire-free alternative clearing technique on mercury retention for long-time cultivated soils compared to traditional slash-and-burn. This case study included five land uses: one crop plot and one pasture plot cleared using slash-and-burn, one crop plot and one pasture plot cleared using chop-and-mulch, and one 40-year-old forest as a control. Low mercury concentrations were recorded in the surface horizon (24.83 to 49.48 ng g−1, 0–5 cm depth). The long-time cultivation (repeated burnings) of these soils triggered large mercury losses in the surface horizon, highlighted by high enrichment factors from surface to deeper horizons. The predominant effect of repeated burnings before the experimental implementation did not let us to distinguish a positive effect of the chop-and-mulch clearing method on soil mercury retention for crops and pastures. Moreover, some processes related to the presence of the mulch may favor mercury retention (Hg volatilization decrease, cationic sites increase), while others may contribute to mercury losses (cationic competition and dislocation, mobilization by the dissolved organic matter).

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the International Development Research Centre, Ottawa (Canada), the EMBRAPA (Brazil), and the Université du Québec à Montréal (Canada). The authors wish to sincerely thank the staff people of the Soil Science Group at the Universidade Federal Rural da Amazônia (UFRA) Belém Campus (PA, Brazil), for the facilities provided in cooperation in the course of this research work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Environmental Sciences and GEOTOP, Université du Québec à Montréal, C.P. 8888, succ. Centre-Ville, H3C 3P8, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

    Irina Comte & Marc Lucotte

  2. Biodôme de Montréal, 4777, avenue Pierre-De Coubertin, Montreal, H1V 1B3, Quebec, Canada

    Robert Davidson

  3. Institute of Environmental Sciences, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, C.P. 8888, succ. Centre-Ville, H3C 3P8, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

    Robert Davidson

  4. EMBRAPA Eastern Amazonia, Dr. Eneas Pinheiro Lane, Belem, PA, 66095-100, Brazil

    Claúdio José Reis de Carvalho

  5. University of Agricultural Sciences (UFRA), 2501 President Tancredo Neves Avenue, Belem, PA, 66.077-530, Brazil

    Francisco de Assis Oliveira

  6. Postgraduate Program in Agroecology, State University of Maranhão (UEMA), P O Box 3004, São Luis, MA, 65000-000, Brazil

    Guillaume X. Rousseau

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  1. Irina Comte
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  2. Marc Lucotte
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  3. Robert Davidson
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Correspondence to Irina Comte.

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Comte, I., Lucotte, M., Davidson, R. et al. Impacts of Land Uses on Mercury Retention in Long-Time Cultivated Soils, Brazilian Amazon. Water Air Soil Pollut 224, 1515 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-013-1515-3

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