The root growth, changes in superoxide dismutase (SOD, EC 1.15.1.1) activity,malonyldialdehyde (MDA) and total soluble protein level of broadbean (Vicia faba) seedlings were researched at different soil concentrations of chlorobenzene (CB), 1,2,4-trichlorobenzene (TCB) and hexachlorobenzene (HCB). The results showed that root growth of seedlings was growth was, however, restored to some extent although there was a delay in returning to the control level. The total soluble protein content in seedlings increased with TCB concentration and duration of exposure. Effect of TCB stress on SOD activity in seedlings displayed a significant were placed in clean tap water for 3 d following exposure to 5 d of TCB stress to clear tap water (P＜0.05). The experiments also revealed that a significant increase of MDA level in seedlings was a positive correlation between TCB concentration and MDA level. All the above results showed that SOD activity and MDA level of broadbean seedlings might be proposed as the biomarkers for short-term TCB contamination in soil. Compared to TCB, the toxicity of 50-1000 μg · g-1 CB or HCB in soil to broadbean seedlings was not observed after a 3 d exposure.
LIU Wan LI Peijun ZHOU Qixing SUN Tieheng TAI Peidong XU Huaxia
A batch-equilibration technique was employed to study the impact of two organophosphorus pesticides methamidophos (MDP) and glyphosate (GPS) on copper (Cu2+) sorptiondesorption for phaeozem and burozem collected from Northeastern China. The addition of the two pesticides decreased Cu2+ sorption, increased Cu2+ desorption and prolonged the equilibrium time of Cu2+ sorption-desorption. But GPS appeared to exert a stronger influence on Cu2+ sorption-desorption due to its stronger complexion with Cu2+. When MDP was added, Cu2+ sorption-desorption was linearly correlated with MDP treatment concentrations. But in the presence of GPS, Cu2+ sorption first underwent a rapid decrease period, and then slowly tended towards a steady period. The reverse pattern could be found for Cu2+ desorption in the presence of GPS.Without pesticides and with the existence of MDP, Cu2+ sorption-desorption kinetics was well conformed to two-constant equation and Elovich equation. But that was not the case for Cu2+ desorption kinetics in the presence of GPS although its sorption could be also described by these two equations.
YU Ying, ZHOU Qixing & HE Zhenli Key Laboratory of Terrestrial Ecological Process, Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, China
On the basis of ecological principles including holistic optimization, cycling and regeneration, and regional differentiation, land treatment systems (LTSs) for municipal wastewater were continuously explored and updated in the western Shenyang area and the Huolinhe area, China. Intensified pretreatment, addition of a man-made soil filtration layer, and use of an ecologically diversified secondary plant cover were proved to be technically feasible. Hydraulic loading was determined according to the assimilation capacity of soil ecosystems, thus ensuring safe operation of wastewater treatment. This modernized and alternative approach to wastewater treatment had been widely applied in middle-sized and small cities and towns of Northeast China, and these innovative systems in some areas had indicated favorable ecological, social, and economic benefits.
A systematic investigation was conducted to screen for cadmium-hyperaccumulator from 54 species in 20 weed families using outdoor pot-culture experiment and small-scale field experiment. The results from the outdoor pot-culture experiment showed that Cd concentrations in the stems and leaves of Solanum nigrum L. growing in a soil spiked with 25 mg/kg Cd were up to 103.8 and 124.6 mg/kg (DW), respectively, which was greater than 100 mg/kg, minimum Cd concentration for a Cd-hyperaccumulator. The Cdenrichment factor(EF,concentration ratio in plant to soil) in shoots was as high as 2.68. Moreover, Cd accumulation in shoots was greater than that in roots (TF, concentration ratio in shoots to roots) and the plant biomass growth was not inhibited at the Cd concentrations tested compared with the control. The results of the small-scale field experiment also showed that the characteristics of Cd accumulation in S. nigrum were all consistent with the characteristics of Cd-hyperaccumulators. Thus S. nigrum can be classified as a Cd-hyperaccumulator. This work is important for further research in the areas of hyperaccumulators screening, and plant-tolerance physiology and evolution. It provides a pat- entable new plant species for phytoremediation of Cd-con- taminated soils.
To screen out a series of ideal plants that can effectively remedy contaminated soils by heavy metals is the main groundwork of phytoremediation engineering and the first step of its commercial application on a large scale. In this study, accumulation and endurance of 45 weed species in 16 families from an agricultural site were in situ examined by using the pot-culture field experiment, and the remediation potential of some weed species with high accumulation of heavy metals was assayed. The results showed that Solanum nigrum and Conyza canadensis can not only accumulate high concentration of Cd, but also strongly endure to single Cd and Cd-Pb-Cu-Zn combined pollution. Thus 2 weed species can be regarded as good hyperaccumulators for the remediation of Cd-contaminated soils. Although there were high Cd-accumulation in Artemigia selengensis, Znula britannica and Cephalanoplos setosum, their biomass was adversely affected due to action of heavy metals in the soils. If the problem of low endurance to heavy metals can be solved by a reinforcer, 3 weed species can be perhaps applied commercially.
Ecological effects of crude oil residues on weed rhizospheres are still vague. The quantitative and diversity changes and metabolic responses of soil-bacterial communities in common dandelion (Taraxacum officinale), jerusalem artichoke (Silphium perfoliatum L.) and evening primrose (Acalypha australis L.) rhizospheric soils were thus examined using the method of carbon source utilization. The results indicated that there were various toxic effects of crude oil residues on the growth and reproduction of soil bacteria, but the weed rhizospheres could mitigate the toxic effects. Total heterotrophic counting colony-forming units (CFUs) in the rhizospheric soils were significantly higher than those in the non-rhizospheric soils. The culturable soil-bacterial CFUs in the jerusalem artichoke (S. perfoliatum) rhizosphere polluted with 0.50 kg/pot of crude oil residues were almost twice as much as those with 0.25 kg/pot and without the addition of crude oil residues. The addition of crude oil residues increased the difference in substrate evenness, substrate richness, and substrate diversity between non-rhizospheric and rhizospheric soils of T. officinale and A. australis, but there was no significant (p>0.05) difference in the Shannon’s diversity index between non-rhizospheric and rhizospheric soils of S. perfoliatum. The rhizospheric response of weed species to crude oil residues suggested that S. perfoliatum may be a potential weed species for the effective plant-microorganism bioremediation of contaminated soils by crude oil residues.
The sorption-desorption behavior of dicyandiamide (DCD) is an important chemical process that affects DCD fate and mobility in soils. Therefore, this study quantified DCD sorption-desorption on a phaeozem (Mollisol), a burozem (Alfisol), a soil with organic matter-removed and peat humus using the batch-equilibration procedure, and identified soil properties that influenced DCD sorption. The sorption on peat humus was higher than that on the phaeozem and the burozem, with much lower sorption observed on the soil with organic matter-removed, indicating that soil organic matter was the main carrier of DCD sorption. Due to its amphipathic property the DCD molecule sorption on the phaeozem and the burozem decreased as pH increased from about 2 to 5, but a further increase in pH led to a rise in DCD sorption.The DCD desorption hysteretic effect for peat humus was greater than that for the phaeozem and the burozem using 0.01 mol L-1 CaC12 as the background electrolyte, suggesting that the hydrophobic domains of organic matter may play an important role in DCD sorption.
Acetochlor and methamidophos are two important agrochemicals which are widely applied to agricultural production in northeast China. The investigation on the earthworm Eisenia fetida as an important type of soil animals exposed to single and binary-combined contamination of acetochlor and methamidophos was th us carried out. The single toxic effect test showed that the two agrochemicals h ad their toxicity to the earthworms living in phaiozem. Acetochlor had a stronge r acute toxic effect on the earthworms than methamidophos. The mortality of the earthworms exposed to individual acetochlor and methamidophos changed with an in crease in the exposure time and the exposed concentrations. The LD50 value of ac etochlor and methamidophos toxic to the earthworms was 115.6—275.3 and 29.5—22 8.6 mg/kg, respectively. The weight of the earthworms was a more sensitive index compared to the mortality in indicating toxic effects of acetochlor and methami dophos in phaiozem. When considering both the mortality and the body-weight chan ge, the combined pollution of acetochlor and methamidophos in phaiozem resulted in their synergic toxic effects on the earthworms.
