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Investigation of the changes in magnetic and chemical properties of soil during plant growth in a controlled environment

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Abstract

Changes in magnetic and chemical properties of soil during the growth of tomato plants (Lycopersicon esculentum) are examined in this study. The synthetic soils, prepared from sand, topsoil and organic material, were treated with magnetite powder (<5 μm) in order to simulate metal contamination. Six soil treatments were prepared from two soil types: controls, low-contamination and high-contamination treatments (0.01 and 0.05 g of magnetite powder/kg soil, respectively). Overall, the contaminated soils had a greater decrease in magnetic susceptibility (MS) than the controls, and the difference in MS decrease between the treatments was found to be statistically significant for both soil types. Potential reasons for the overall MS decrease were explored, and among them, trace element uptake by plants probably had a minor contribution as the concentration differences of Fe and other trace elements (Ni, Mn) between treatments were not statistically significant. In soils, oxidized and weakly magnetic minerals (maghemite, goethite and hematite) were common after plant growth, when compared with the untreated (background) soil. Such mineral transformations could have contributed to the overall MS decrease. The results show that exposure to Fe contaminants can affect plant growth and suggest that plant growth can measurably change the magnetic properties of their growth media. While the potential variables affecting plant growth were controlled as much as possible, there still remains the potential that biotic and abiotic chemical reactions could have affected the results. Thus, continuous monitoring of the changes in soil magnetic and chemical properties in more complex soil–plant systems is needed.

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Notes

  1. Seedling plants established, about 4 weeks of growth; vegetative until first flower opens, about 8 weeks of growth; reproductive until first fruiting occurs, about 10 weeks of growth; harvestable plant terminated after fully grown, about 12 weeks of growth.

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Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge a Premier’s Research Excellence Award and a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council award to Dr. Maria T. Cioppa. They would like to thank Daniel Hanley for assisting the color measurements, Ambika Paudel for assisting in morphological measurements, and Dr. Michael Jackson at the Institute for Rock Magnetism (University of Minnesota) for hysteresis measurements. They are grateful to Dr. Ihsan Al-Aasm and an anonymous reviewer for providing helpful comments that improved this paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Windsor, Windsor, ON, N9B 3P4, Canada

    B. Sapkota, M. T. Cioppa & J. E. Gagnon

  2. Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research, University of Windsor, Windsor, ON, N9B 3P4, Canada

    J. E. Gagnon

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  1. B. Sapkota
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  2. M. T. Cioppa
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  3. J. E. Gagnon
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Correspondence to B. Sapkota.

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Sapkota, B., Cioppa, M.T. & Gagnon, J.E. Investigation of the changes in magnetic and chemical properties of soil during plant growth in a controlled environment. Environ Earth Sci 65, 385–399 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-011-1099-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-011-1099-4

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