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Effects of Sewage Sludge Application on Biomass Production and Concentrations of Cd, Pb and Zn in Shoots of Salix and Populus Clones: Improvement of Phytoremediation Efficiency in Contaminated Soils

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Abstract

Fast-growing clones of Salix and Populus species have been studied for phytoremediation of soils contaminated by risk elements (REs) using short-rotation coppice plantations. Biomass yield, accumulation and removal of RE (Cd, Pb and Zn) by highly productive willow (S1—(Salix schwerinii × Salix viminalis) × S. viminalis, S2—Salix × smithiana) and poplar (P1—Populus maximowiczii × Populus nigra, P2—P. nigra) clones were investigated with and without sewage sludge (SS) application. The precise field experiment was established in April 2008 on moderately Cd-, Pb- and Zn-contaminated soil. Initially, shoots were harvested after four seasons in February 2012 and then after two more seasons in February 2014. The application of SS limited plant growth during the first years of the experiment in the majority of treatments, mainly due to weed competition and higher concentrations of available soil nutrients causing lower yields than those of control (C) treatments. Well-developed roots were able to take advantage of SS applications, and shoot yield was mainly higher in SS treatments in the second harvest, reaching up to 15 t dry matter (DM) ha−1. Willows performed better than poplars. Application of SS reduced RE shoot concentrations compared to the C treatment. The removal of RE was significantly higher in the second harvest for all clones and elements (except the P2 clone), and the biomass yield was the major driving force for the amount of RE removed by shoots. Well-developed plantations of fast-growing trees showed better suitability for the phytoextraction of moderately contaminated soils for Cd and partly for Zn but not for Pb, which was less available to plants. From the four tested clones, S2 showed the best removal of Cd (up to 0.94 %) and Zn (up to 0.34 %) of the total soil element content, respectively, and this clone is a good candidate for phytoextraction. SS can be a suitable source of nutrients for Salix clones without any threat to the food chain in terms of biomass contamination, but its application to the soil can result in an increased incidence of some weeds during the first years of plantation.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by National Agency of Agriculture Sciences (NAZV QJ 1210211) and Czech University of Life Sciences, Prague, from CIGA project no. 20142005.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Agroenvironmental Chemistry and Plant Nutrition, Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Czech University of Life Sciences, Kamýcká 129, CZ-165 21, Prague 6 - Suchdol, Czech Republic

    Pavla Kubátová, Jiřina Száková, Stanislava Vondráčková & Pavel Tlustoš

  2. Department of Ecology, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences, Kamýcká 129, CZ-165 21, Prague 6 - Suchdol, Czech Republic

    Michal Hejcman

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  1. Pavla Kubátová
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Correspondence to Pavel Tlustoš.

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Kubátová, P., Hejcman, M., Száková, J. et al. Effects of Sewage Sludge Application on Biomass Production and Concentrations of Cd, Pb and Zn in Shoots of Salix and Populus Clones: Improvement of Phytoremediation Efficiency in Contaminated Soils. Bioenerg. Res. 9, 809–819 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12155-016-9727-1

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