Heavy Metals Uptake of Salty Soils by Ornamental Sunflower, Using Cow Manure and Biosolids: A Case Study in Alborz city, Iran

Abstract

Heavy metals are among the most critical environmental pollutants close to industrial areas. One example is the cultivated fields in the south of Alborz industrial city in Iran, which is irrigated by treated industrial wastewater. It is contaminated by heavy metals and irrigation with wastewater treatment plants effluent, which made it salty. In this study, the application of 2 amendments, biosolids and cow manure, in improving the heavy metal accumulation in the ornamental sunflower from these types of soils was investigated. A greenhouse experiment using a completely randomized design with 4 replications and applying cow manure and biosolids in 3 weight ratios (6%, 12%, 25%) was conducted to evaluate the efficiency of sunflower in removing Pb, Ni, and Zn from the soil. Adding the amendments increased the rate of germination by 50% to 176%. Although the simultaneous utilization of cow manure in high ratios with biosolids and cow manure with low biosolids decreased the sunflower survival, nonetheless, the simultaneous addition of these organic amendments could increase the survival rate in other treatments. Moreover, the plants’ biomass was increased by adding modifiers such as cow manure and biosolids. The results showed that in treatments with 2 modifiers, the remediation factor of Pb, Zn, and Ni has increased 83.7 to 95.5, 78.4 to 87.5, and 74.9 to 94.9, respectively, in comparison to the control one. Therefore, we conclude that adding biosolids and cow manure simultaneously could improve the ornamental sunflower ability to accumulate heavy metals.

Determinant Variables for Women’s Participation in Soil and Water Conservation Practices in North Western Ethiopia: The Case of Shebel Berenta District (Woreda), East Gojjam Zone, Amhara National Regional State

“…The chi-square value also showed, there is a significant association between participation in decision-making process and their participation in SWC with the value of ( = 173.570, df = 1, P = .000, P < .05). In agreement with this result, an investigations elaborated by Yazdanbakhsh et al 4 and Ali and Kedru 47 demonstrated that indigenous soil conservation technologies such as contour plowing, manuring, crop rotation and residue, cut-off drains, and ditches are considered as an effective methods of conservation measures. Other authors also affirmed that hills, together with side terracing and check dams, were among the most frequently used physical structures for SWC.…”

Ornamental Plant Efficiency for Heavy Metals Phytoextraction from Contaminated Soils Amended with Organic Materials

“…The factors affecting the amounts of metal that a plant absorbs those controlled by the concentration and speciation of the metal in the soil solution; the movement of metal from the bulk soil to the root surface; the transport of the metal from the root surface into the root, and its translocation from the root to the shoot [28,29]. Plants readily uptake HMs dissolved in soil solution in ionic or chelated, or complex forms [30,31]. Several organic and inorganic agents might effectively and specifically increase HMs solubility that could be accumulated by several plant species [32].…”

Estimating Soil Available Phosphorus Content through Coupled Wavelet–Data-Driven Models

“…Finally, it should be noted that land use may affect the relationships among soil variables, as discussed by other authors (e.g., [88][89][90][91]). Nonetheless, topography affects soil properties as well due to the local redistribution of water, solar radiation, and parent material through erosion and deposition processes [92][93][94].…”