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The distribution of heavy metal in surface soils and their uptake by plants along roadside slopes in longitudinal range gorge region, China

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Abstract

Metal distributions (Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn) in the soils and plants were investigated in roadside surface soils and grass herbage collected from two study sites adjacent to Mangshi–Ruili and Dali–Baoshan highways. At each study site, soil and plant samples were collected along two roadside slopes with distances of 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, and 200 m away from the highway. Results show that the enrichment of heavy metals in the surface soils and plants along the road is caused by the highway, and it decreases with the increasing distance from the road. Metal concentrations in the soils and plants along the downslope are higher than those in the upslope along the road. The six types of metals investigated in this research mainly distributed within 200 m from the highway. Four types of relationships between metal uptake by plants from soils and the distance were found and their clear distinctions of Cr, Cu, Pd, Ni and Zn uptake by plants were also investigated.

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Acknowledgments

This research was funded by Natural Science Fund Project of China (No. U0833002; 40571149), the National Basic Research Program of China (No. 2003CB415104). We acknowledge the constructive comments and suggestions of anonymous reviewers.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Environment, State Key Joint Laboratory of Environmental Simulation and Pollution Control, Beijing Normal University, 100875, Beijing, China

    Hui Zhao & Baoshan Cui

  2. Civil Engineering Department, The Centre of Environmental Engineering Research and Education (CEERE), Schulich School of Engineering, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, AB, T2N 1N4, Canada

    Kejiang Zhang

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  1. Hui Zhao
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  2. Baoshan Cui
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Correspondence to Baoshan Cui.

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Zhao, H., Cui, B. & Zhang, K. The distribution of heavy metal in surface soils and their uptake by plants along roadside slopes in longitudinal range gorge region, China. Environ Earth Sci 61, 1013–1023 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-009-0422-9

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