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Effects of wetland plant biochars on heavy metal immobilization and enzyme activity in soils from the Yellow River estuary

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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of wetland plant biochars on the enzyme activity in heavy metal contaminated soil. The biochars were produced from Phragmites australis (PB), Suaeda salsa (SB), and Tamarix chinensis (TB) under different pyrolysis temperatures and times. The detected pyrolysis products showed that the ash, pH, electrical conductivity, and carbon content of the biochars increased significantly, while the production rate of the biochars decreased with increasing pyrolysis temperature and time. The results of the adsorption experiments indicated that biochar addition could effectively reduce the concentration of Pb and/or Cd in the Pb2+/Cd2+ single or mixed solutions, but the Pb2+ and Cd2+ in the mixed solution indicated a competitive adsorption. A 30-day incubation experiment was conducted using salt marsh soil amended with different biochar application rates to investigate the short-term effects of biochar addition on Pb and Cd immobilization. The PB and SB significantly immobilized Pb within the first 15 days, but Pb remobilized within the next 15-day period. In contrast, TB addition did not significantly fix Pb. Moreover, biochar addition promoted the conversion of Cd from the residue to the less immobile fractions. The addition of three types of plant biochar had no significant effect on the urease activity in wetland soil but significantly increased soil sucrase activity. PB and SB significantly promoted catalase activity, while TB significantly inhibited soil catalase activity. According to the adsorption effect, the fixation effect, and the promotion of enzyme activities, the Suaeda salsa biochars are suitable for the remediation of heavy metal pollution in wetland soils.

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Data availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge lab members Chen Wang, Xinyan Wang, Yuan Cui, and the anonymous reviewers for their great helps and valuable suggestions.

Funding

This study was financially supported by the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2020M671924).

china postdoctoral science foundation,2020M671924,Lidi Zheng

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Geographical Sciences, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou, 350007, China

    Lidi Zheng & Chuan Tong

  2. Fujian Minjiang River Estuary Wetland National Nature Reserve Administrative Office, Fuzhou, 350200, China

    Jujuan Gao

  3. College of Environment and Resources, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou, 350108, China

    Rong Xiao

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  1. Lidi Zheng
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  2. Chuan Tong
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  3. Jujuan Gao
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  4. Rong Xiao
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LZ and RX designed, analyzed, and wrote the manuscript; CT and JG performed the experiments; LZ provided the funding. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Rong Xiao.

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Zheng, L., Tong, C., Gao, J. et al. Effects of wetland plant biochars on heavy metal immobilization and enzyme activity in soils from the Yellow River estuary. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 40796–40811 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-18116-8

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