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Application of biochar and compost improved soil properties and enhanced plant growth in a Pb–Zn mine tailings soil

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Abstract

This study evaluated the effect of biochar and compost on physiochemical properties, heavy metal content, microbial biomass, enzyme activities, and plant growth in Pb–Zn mine tailings. In this study, a pot experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of biochar, compost, and their combination on the availability of heavy metals, physicochemical features, and enzyme activities in mining soil. Compared to separate addition, the combined application of biochar and compost was more effective to improve soil pH, soil organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen (TN), available phosphorus (AP), and potassium (AK). All amendments significantly decreased CaCl2-extractable Pb, Zn, Cu, and Cd. Soil enzyme activities were activated by biochar and compost. Meanwhile, the addition of biochar and compost decreased heavy metal content in plant tissues and increased plant biomass. Pearson’s correlation analysis showed that plant biomass was positively correlated with nutrient levels, microbial biomass, and enzyme activities, whereas it was negatively correlated with CaCl2-extractable heavy metals. These results enhance our understanding of the ecological functions of biochar and compost on the restoration of mining soil and reveal the potential benefit of organic amendments on the improvement of mining soil quality.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Professor Alan Baker (The Universities of Melbourne and Queensland, Australia) for his help in reviewing and improving the text of this paper.

Funding

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 42077117 and 41622106), the Key-Area Research and Development Program of Guangdong Province (No. 2019B110207001), and Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation (No. 2021B1515120039).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510275, People’s Republic of China

    Yizhi Cheng

  2. Institute of Ecological Science, Guangzhou Key Laboratory of Subtropical Biodiversity and Biomonitoring, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Biotechnology for Plant Development, School of Life Sciences, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, 510631, People’s Republic of China

    Fenglin Li, Zhuo-hui Wu, Guanxiong Wu, Pu Jia & Jin-tian Li

  3. Hunan New World Science and Technology Company Limited, Zhuzhou, 412000, People’s Republic of China

    Yizhi Cheng, Jing Li, Zhihui Ji, Chenggang Wang & Xiao Xiao

  4. College of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha, 410000, People’s Republic of China

    Xuan Bu

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  1. Yizhi Cheng
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  11. Jin-tian Li
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study’s conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by Xuan Bu, Jing Li, Zhihui Ji, Chenggang Wang, Xiao Xiao, Feng-lin Li, Zhuo-hui Wu, and Guanxiong Wu. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Yizhi Cheng and Pu Jia, writing—review and editing was done by Pu Jia and Jin-tian Li, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Pu Jia.

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Cheng, Y., Bu, X., Li, J. et al. Application of biochar and compost improved soil properties and enhanced plant growth in a Pb–Zn mine tailings soil. Environ Sci Pollut Res 30, 32337–32347 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-24488-2

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