Summary
Accumulations of copper, lead and arsenic in soils affected by orchard sprays or mining were investigated in relation to their effects on growth and composition of plants. Seasonal variations in concentrations of the elements in pasture plants sampled from contaminated soils in the field are reported. The effects of soil temperature and applications of the nutrients P, S and N on the composition of plants grown in contaminated soils were investigated in glasshouse experiments.
The copper concentrations of pasture species sampled from sites which were formerly orchards were usually high (20 to 60 mg kg−1) during most of the growing season and may present some risk of toxicity to grazing ruminant animals. Lead (0.8 to 21 mg kg−1) and arsenic (<0.2 to 5.8 mg kg−1) concentrations were within, or close to the normal range of concentration in plants. In the glasshouse experiments, soil temperature was found to be an important factor in the uptake of copper, lead and arsenic. There were significant differences in uptake between genotypes. Applications of fertilizers at rates equivalent to those used for commercial vegetable production generally resulted in small decreases in the concentrations of copper, lead and arsenic concentrations in silver beet.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Baumhardt G R and Welch L F 1972 Lead uptake and corn growth with soil applied lead. J. Environ. Qual. 1, 92–94.
Benson N R 1953 Effect of season, phosphate, and acidity on plant growth in arsenictoxic soils. Soil Sci. 76, 215–224.
Delas J 1963 La toxicité due cuivre accumulé dans les sols. Agrochimica 7, 258–288.
Epstein E 1962 Mutual effects of ions in their adsorption by plants. Agrochimica 6, 293–322.
Frank R, Ishida K and Suda P 1976 Metals in agricultural soils of Canada. Can. J. Soil Sci. 56, 181–196.
Gupta U C 1979 Copper in agricultural crops.In Copper in the Environment. Ed. J O Nriagu. pp 255–288. John Wiley and Sons Inc., New York.
Healy W B 1973 Nutritional aspects of soil ingestion by grazing animals.In Chemistry and Biochemistry of Herbage, Vol. 1. Eds. G W Butler and R W Bailey. pp 567–588. Academic Press, London.
Hirst J M, Le Riche H H and Bascomb C L 1961 Copper accumulation in the soils of apple orchards near Wisbech. Plant Path. 10, 105–108.
Hurd-Karrer A 1936 Inhibition of arsenic injury to plants by phosphorus. J. Wash. Acad. Sci. 26, 180–181.
Jones J S and Hatch M B 1945 Spray residues and crop assimilation of arsenic and lead. Soil Sci. 60, 277–288.
Keaton C M 1937 The influence of lead compounds on the growth of barley. Soil Sci. 43, 401–411.
Kick H, Bürger H and Sommer K 1980 Gesamtgehalte an Pb, Zn, Sn, As, Cd, Hg, Cu, Ni, Cr und Co in landwirtschaftlich und gärtnerisch genutzten Böden Nordrhein-Westfalens. Landwirtsch. Forschung 33, 12–22.
Merry R H, Tiller K G and Alston A M 1983 Accumulation of copper, lead and arsenic in some Australian orchard soils. Aust. J. Soil Res. 21, 549–561.
Merry R H and Zarcinas B A 1980 Spectrophotometric determination of arsenic and antimony by the silver diethyldithiocarbamate method. Analyst 105, 558–563.
Mitchell R L and Reith J W S 1966 Lead content of pasture herbage. J. Sci. Food Agric. 17, 432–440.
Piper C S and Beckwith R S 1951 Uptake of copper and molybdenum by plants. Proc. Br. Commonw. Scient. Official Conf., Specialist Conf. Agric. Aust., 1949, pp. 144–155.
Rains D W 1971 Lead accumulation by wild oats (Avena fatua) in a contaminated area. Nature (London) 233, 210–211.
Reddy G D, Alston A M and Tiller K G 1981 Effects of fertilizer on concentrations of copper, molybdenum, and sulfur in subterranean clover (Trifolium subterraneum). Aust. J. Exp. Anim. Husb. 21, 491–497.
Reddy G D, Alston A M and Tiller K G 1981 Seasonal changes in the concentrations of copper, molybdenum and sulfur in pasture plants. Aust. J. Exp. Agric. Anim. Husb. 21, 498–505.
Reuther W and Smith P F 1954 Toxic effects of accumulated copper in Florida Soils. Soil Sci. Soc. Fla., Proc. 14, 17–23.
Thompson A H and Batjer L D 1950 Effect of various soil treatments for correcting arsenic injury to peach trees. Soil Sci. 69, 281–290.
Thornton I and Abrahams P 1981 The role of soil ingestion in the intake of metals by livestock.In Trace Substances in Environmental Health — XV, Ed. D D Hemphill. pp 366–371, University of Miscouri, Columbia.
Vincent C L 1944 Vegetable and small fruit growing in toxic ex-orchard soils of central Washington. Wash., Agric. Exp. Stn., Bull. 437, 31 p.
Walsh L M, Ernhardt W H and Siebel H D 1972 Copper toxicity in snapbeans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.). J. Environ. Qual. 1, 197–200.
Woolson E A 1973 Arsenic phytotoxicity and uptake in six vegetable crops. Weed Sci. 21, 524–527.
Woolson E A, Axley J H and Kearney P C 1973 The chemicstry and phytotoxicity of arsenic in soils. II. Effects of time and phosphorus. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. Proc. 37, 254–259.
Zimdahl R L and Foster J M 1976 The influence of applied phosphorus, manure, or lime uptake of lead from soils. J. Environ. Qual. 5, 31–34.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Merry, R.H., Tiller, K.G. & Alston, A.M. The effects of contamination of soil with copper, lead and arsenic on the growth and composition of plants. Plant Soil 91, 115–128 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02181824
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02181824