Cadmium Uptake From Soil by Maize With Intercrops

• Published in: Water, air, and soil pollution Vol. 199; no. 1-4; pp. 45 - 56
• Main Authors: Li, N. Y, Li, Z. A, Zhuang, P, Zou, B, McBride, M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Dordrecht : Springer Netherlands 01.05.2009; Springer Netherlands; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Acids; Agricultural practices; Agronomy. Soil science and plant productions; Alfalfa; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Applied ecology; Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution; Bioaccumulation; Bioavailability; Biological and medical sciences; Biological magnification; Biomass energy; Botanical gardens; Cadmium; Cicer arietinum; Climate Change/Climate Change Impacts; Contamination; Corn; Crops; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecotoxicology, biological effects of pollution; Environment; Environmental monitoring; Experiments; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gardens & gardening; General agroecology; General agroecology. Agricultural and farming systems. Agricultural development. Rural area planning. Landscaping; General agronomy. Plant production; General aspects; Generalities. Agricultural and farming systems. Agricultural development; Groundwater pollution; Heavy metals; Hydrogeology; Intercropping; Legumes; Nitrates; Phytoremediation; Plant tissues; Seeds; Soil contaminants; soil pollution; Soil Science & Conservation; Soil sciences; Studies; Transfer factor; uptake mechanisms; Water Quality/Water Pollution; Zea mays; Cadmium; Intercropping; Maize phytoremediation; Heavy metal; Legume; Monocotyledones; Zea mays; Cropping system; Heavy mental; Uptake; Phytoremediation; Trace element; Pollutant; Soils; Decontamination; Leguminosae; Gramineae; Dicotyledones; Angiospermae; Ecological recovery; Spermatophyta; Bioremediation
• ISSN: 0049-6979; 1573-2932
• DOI: 10.1007/s11270-008-9858-x

A pot experiment was conducted to study the effect of 7 intercrops on Cd uptake by maize. The intercrops included cowpea (V. unguiculata (L.) Walp.), purple haricot (L. purpureus (L.) Sweet.), chickpea (C. arietinum L.), alfalfa (M. sativa L.), teosinte (E. mexicana Schrad.), amaranth (A. paniculatus L.) and rape (B. napus L.). The results showed that most legumes substantially increased Cd uptake by maize during vegetative growth. Leaf tissue of maize grown with legumes averaged 5.05 mg kg⁻¹ higher Cd than that grown with nonlegumes, or 2.42 mg kg⁻¹ higher than the control. However, the effect of intercrops on Cd uptake by maize became small during reproductive growth. Since chickpea resulted in a relatively large maize bioconcentration factor of 2.0 and large transfer factor of 0.55, it is regarded as the most valuable intercrop for enhancing Cd extraction from soil by maize. The results suggest that intercropping might be a feasible practice in facilitating phytoremediation.