Summary
Theupper critical level of a potentially toxic element is its minimum concentration in actively growing tissues of a plant at which yield is reduced.
The following values for upper critical levels in the leaves and shoots of spring barley at the five-leaf stage were determined by means of sand culture experiments in the glasshouse: Ag 4; As 20; B 80; Ba 500; Be 0.6; Cd 15; Co 6; Cr 10; Cu 20; Hg 3; Li 4; Mo 135; Ni 26; Pb 35; Se 30; Sn 63; Tl 20; V 2; Zn 290; Zr 15ppm of dry matter. They are presented as the basis of a simple procedure for monitoring harmful accumulations of these elements in the soil environment. We also present the concentrations of simple solutions of these elements which induced toxicity under the conditions of the experiments. There was little uptake of Bi, Sb and Te even from solutions that reduced the yield of young barley. It is believed that these elements may have reduced the availability or translocation of other nutrient elements.
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Davis, R.D., Beckett, P.H.T. & Wollan, E. Critical levels of twenty potentially toxic elements in young spring barley. Plant Soil 49, 395–408 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02149747
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02149747