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Künzli M, Dürr-Auster T, Bracher C, Zhao Y, Bachelder J, Emmanuel F, Wiggenhauser M. 67Zn and 111Cd labelled green manure to determine the fate and dynamics of zinc and cadmium in soil-fertilizer-crop systems. ISOTOPES IN ENVIRONMENTAL AND HEALTH STUDIES 2024; 60:286-308. [PMID: 38488879 DOI: 10.1080/10256016.2024.2324966] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2023] [Accepted: 02/22/2024] [Indexed: 03/17/2024]
Abstract
Isotope source tracing enables to accurately determine the fate of nutrients that are applied with fertilizers to soils. While this approach is well established for major nutrients such as nitrogen, it is not yet established for trace metals. Here, we aimed to determine the fate of the micronutrient zinc (Zn) and the contaminant cadmium (Cd) that were applied with an organic fertilizer to a soil-wheat system. A pot study was conducted in which wheat was grown on an alkaline soil. The soils received green manure and/or soluble Zn fertilizer and were compared with non-fertilized control treatments (n = 4 experimental replicates). The green manure was labelled with the stable isotopes 67Zn and 111Cd. For an efficient sample throughput, a method was provided and validated to determine enriched stable isotope ratios (67Zn:66Zn and 111Cd:110Cd) and the Zn and Cd concentrations in one analytical run. To this end, single collector ICP-MS analyses and stable isotope mass balances calculations were combined. Applying this method revealed that the addition of green manure increased neither Zn nor Cd concentrations in wheat grains due to biomass dilution effects. Isotope source tracing showed that the largest fraction of these metals in the wheat shoots derived from the soil in all treatments (Zn 87-99 %, Cd 94-98 %). Moreover, the addition of green manure increased the transfer of Zn and Cd from soil to wheat by a factor 1.9 for both elements. This increased transfer was likely related to a nitrogen fertilization effect that increased root and shoot biomass and thereby the soil exploration of the wheat. This study demonstrated how the fate and dynamics of multiple trace metals can be efficiently determined in soil-fertilizer-crop systems using isotope source tracing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manja Künzli
- Institute of Agricultural Sciences, ETH, Zurich, Switzerland
| | | | | | - Yang Zhao
- Institute of Agricultural Sciences, ETH, Zurich, Switzerland
- College of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Bejing, People's Republic of China
| | - Jill Bachelder
- Institute of Agricultural Sciences, ETH, Zurich, Switzerland
- Institute of Biogeochemistry and Pollutant Dynamics, ETH, Zurich, Switzerland
- Department of Water Resources and Drinking Water, Eawag, Dubendorf, Switzerland
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Wiggenhauser M, Illmer D, Spiess E, Holzkämper A, Prasuhn V, Liebisch F. Cadmium, zinc, and copper leaching rates determined in large monolith lysimeters. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2024; 926:171482. [PMID: 38471584 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.171482] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2023] [Revised: 02/20/2024] [Accepted: 03/03/2024] [Indexed: 03/14/2024]
Abstract
Soil mass balances are used to assess the risk of trace metals that are inadvertently applied with fertilizers into agroecosystems. The accuracy of such balances is limited by leaching rates, as they are difficult to measure. Here, we used monolith lysimeters to precisely determine Cd, Cu, and Zn leaching rates in 2021 and 2022. The large lysimeters (n = 12, 1 m diameter, 1.35 m depth) included one soil type (cambisol, weakly acidic) and distinct cropping systems with three experimental replicates. Stable isotope tracers were applied to determine the direct transfer of these trace metals from the soil surface into the seepage water. The annual leaching rates ranged from 0.04 to 0.30 for Cd, 2.65 to 11.7 for Cu, and 7.27 to 39.0 g (ha a)-1 for Zn. These leaching rates were up to four times higher in the year with several heavy rain periods compared to the dry year. Monthly resolved data revealed that distinct climatic conditions in combination with crop development have a strong impact on trace metal leaching rates. In contrast, fertilization strategy (e.g., conventional vs. organic) had a minor effect on leaching rates. Trace metal leaching rates were up to 10 times smaller than fertilizer inputs and had therefore a minor impact on soil mass balances. This was further confirmed with isotope source tracing that showed that only small fractions of Cd, Cu, and Zn were directly transferred from the soil surface to the leached seepage water within two years (< 0.07 %). A comparison with models that predict Cd leaching rates in the EU suggests that the models overestimate the Cd soil output with seepage water. Hence, monolith lysimeters can help to refine leaching models and thereby also soil mass balances that are used to assess the risk of trace metals inputs with fertilizers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthias Wiggenhauser
- Institute of Agricultural Sciences, ETH Zurich, Eschikon 33, CH-8315 Lindau, Switzerland.
| | - David Illmer
- Institute of Agricultural Sciences, ETH Zurich, Eschikon 33, CH-8315 Lindau, Switzerland
| | - Ernst Spiess
- Water Protection and Substance Flows, Agroscope, Reckenholzstrasse 191, 8046 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Annelie Holzkämper
- Water Protection and Substance Flows, Agroscope, Reckenholzstrasse 191, 8046 Zurich, Switzerland; University of Bern, Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, Hochschulstrasse 4, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
| | - Volker Prasuhn
- Water Protection and Substance Flows, Agroscope, Reckenholzstrasse 191, 8046 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Frank Liebisch
- Water Protection and Substance Flows, Agroscope, Reckenholzstrasse 191, 8046 Zurich, Switzerland
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Zheng X, Han G, Liang B, Zhu G. Land-use conversion controls on the mobility of Zn in paddy soils revealed by stable Zn isotopes. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2023; 870:161945. [PMID: 36739033 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.161945] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2022] [Revised: 01/26/2023] [Accepted: 01/27/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
Understanding Zn biogeochemical cycling is necessary for monitoring Zn supply for plants and life during land use conversion, which is critical for environmentally sustainable development. But little is known about how the conversion of paddy soil to abandoned land affects the Zn isotope signature. A comparative field observation was conducted in northeast Thailand to investigate the Zn isotope footprint of paddy soils and abandoned paddy soils (PL and NPL). Our results show that Zn (τZnint : 0.04) slightly retains on PL, but is lost from NPL (τZnint from - 0.81 to - 0.24) to the river during weathering. Compared to PL (Δ66Znparent-soil: -0.29 ‰), more 66Zn isotopes might enter the river when rice cultivation ceases in NPL (Δ66Znparent-soil from -0.26 ‰ to -0.47 ‰). Rice harvest and then root decay might result in heavy 66Zn isotopes accumulating at the topmost soil in PL (δ66Zn: 0.14 ‰) and short-term abandonment (1-2 years) in paddy soils (NPL1 δ66Zn: 0.18 ‰). The release of assimilated Zn, and then the high adsorption of Zn in the Fe-SOM-metal(loid)s ternary system positively contribute to the high [Zn] in PL, while this was not observed in NPL. Our findings provide a comprehensive insight into the Zn isotope signature in response to the conversion of land-use types, which is beneficial for understanding the terrestrial Zn geochemical cycle.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaodi Zheng
- Institute of Earth Sciences, China University of Geosciences (Beijing), Beijing 100083, China
| | - Guilin Han
- Institute of Earth Sciences, China University of Geosciences (Beijing), Beijing 100083, China.
| | - Bin Liang
- Institute of Earth Sciences, China University of Geosciences (Beijing), Beijing 100083, China; School of Environment and Energy, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510006, China
| | - Guangyou Zhu
- Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration and Development, PetroChina, Beijing 100083, China
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Yan BF, Dürr-Auster T, Frossard E, Wiggenhauser M. The Use of Stable Zinc Isotope Soil Labeling to Assess the Contribution of Complex Organic Fertilizers to the Zinc Nutrition of Ryegrass. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2021; 12:730679. [PMID: 34992617 PMCID: PMC8724203 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2021.730679] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/25/2021] [Accepted: 11/22/2021] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
Manure and sewage sludge are known to add significant amounts of zinc (Zn) and other metals to soils. However, there is a paucity of information on the fate of Zn that derives from complex organic fertilizers in soil-plant systems and the contribution of these fertilizers to the Zn nutrition of crops. To answer these questions, we grew Italian ryegrass in the presence of ZnSO4, sewage sludge, and cattle and poultry manure in an acidic soil from Heitenried, Switzerland, and an alkaline soil from Strickhof, Switzerland, where the isotopically exchangeable Zn had been labeled with 67Zn. This allowed us to calculate the fraction of Zn in the shoots that was derived from fertilizer, soil, and seed over 4 successive cuts. In addition, we measured the 67Zn:66Zn isotope ratio with the diffusive gradients in thin films technique (DGT) on soils labeled with 67Zn and incubated with the same fertilizers. After 48 days of growth, the largest fraction of Zn in the ryegrass shoots was derived from the soil (79-88%), followed by the Zn-containing fertilizer (11-20%); the least (<2.3%) came from the seed. Only a minor fraction of the Zn applied with the fertilizer was transferred to the shoots (4.7-12%), which indicates that most of the freshly added Zn remained in the soil after one crop cycle and may thereby contribute to a residual Zn pool in the soil. The 67Zn:66Zn isotope ratios in the DGT extracts and the shoots measured at cut 4 were identical, suggesting that the DGT and plant took up Zn from the same pool. The proportion of Zn derived from the fertilizers in the DGT extracts was also identical to that measured in ryegrass shoots at cut 4. In conclusion, this work shows that stable Zn isotope labeling of the soil available Zn can be used to precisely quantify the impact of complex organic fertilizers on the Zn nutrition of crops. It also demonstrates that DGT extractions on labeled soils could be used to estimate the contribution of Zn fertilizers to plant nutrition.
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Bracher C, Frossard E, Bigalke M, Imseng M, Mayer J, Wiggenhauser M. Tracing the fate of phosphorus fertilizer derived cadmium in soil-fertilizer-wheat systems using enriched stable isotope labeling. ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION (BARKING, ESSEX : 1987) 2021; 287:117314. [PMID: 34004476 DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2021.117314] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2021] [Revised: 04/30/2021] [Accepted: 05/03/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Applying mineral phosphorus (P) fertilizers introduces a considerable input of the toxic heavy metal cadmium (Cd) into arable soils. This study investigates the fate of P fertilizer derived Cd (Cddff) in soil-wheat systems using a novel combination of enriched stable Cd isotope mass balances, sequential extractions, and Bayesian isotope mixing models. We applied an enriched 111Cd labeled mineral P fertilizer to arable soils from two long-term field trials with distinct soil properties (a strongly acidic pH and a neutral pH) and distinct past mineral P fertilizer application rates. We then cultivated wheat in a pot trial on these two soils. In the neutral soil, Cd concentrations in the soil and the wheat increased with increasing past mineral P fertilizer application rates. This was not the case in the strongly acidic soil. Less than 2.3% of freshly applied Cddff was taken up by the whole wheat plant. Most of the Cddff remained in the soil and was predominantly (>95% of freshly applied Cddff) partitioned into the easily mobilizable acetic acid soluble fraction (F1) and the potentially mobile reducible fraction (F2). Soil pH was the determining factor for the partitioning of Cddff into F1, as revealed through a recovery of about 40% of freshly applied Cddff in F1 in the neutral pH soil compared with about 60% in the strongly acidic soil. Isotope mixing models showed that F1 was the predominant source of Cd for wheat on both soils and that it contributed to over 80% of the Cd that was taken up by wheat. By tracing the fate of Cddff in entire soil-plant systems using different isotope source tracing approaches, we show that the majority of Cddff remains mobilizable and is potentially plant available in the subsequent crop cycle.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christoph Bracher
- Institute of Geography, University of Bern, Hallerstrasse 12, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
| | - Emmanuel Frossard
- Institute of Agricultural Sciences, ETH Zurich, Eschikon 33, 8315 Lindau, Switzerland
| | - Moritz Bigalke
- Institute of Geography, University of Bern, Hallerstrasse 12, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
| | - Martin Imseng
- Institute of Geography, University of Bern, Hallerstrasse 12, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
| | - Jochen Mayer
- Agroscope, Reckenholzstrasse 191, 8046 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Matthias Wiggenhauser
- Institute of Agricultural Sciences, ETH Zurich, Eschikon 33, 8315 Lindau, Switzerland.
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Wiggenhauser M, Aucour AM, Telouk P, Blommaert H, Sarret G. Changes of Cadmium Storage Forms and Isotope Ratios in Rice During Grain Filling. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2021; 12:645150. [PMID: 33995443 PMCID: PMC8116553 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2021.645150] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2020] [Accepted: 03/08/2021] [Indexed: 05/10/2023]
Abstract
Rice poses a major source of the toxic contaminant cadmium (Cd) for humans. Here, we elucidated the role of Cd storage forms (i.e., the chemical Cd speciation) on the dynamics of Cd within rice. In a pot trial, we grew rice on a Cd-contaminated soil in upland conditions and sampled roots and shoots parts at flowering and maturity. Cd concentrations, isotope ratios, Cd speciation (X-ray absorption spectroscopy), and micronutrient concentrations were analyzed. During grain filling, Cd and preferentially light Cd isotopes were strongly retained in roots where the Cd storage form did not change (Cd bound to thiols, Cd-S = 100%). In the same period, no net change of Cd mass occurred in roots and shoots, and the shoots became enriched in heavy isotopes (Δ114/110Cd maturity-flowering = 0.14 ± 0.04‰). These results are consistent with a sequestration of Cd in root vacuoles that includes strong binding of Cd to thiol containing ligands that favor light isotopes, with a small fraction of Cd strongly enriched in heavy isotopes being transferred to shoots during grain filling. The Cd speciation in the shoots changed from predominantly Cd-S (72%) to Cd bound to O ligands (Cd-O, 80%) during grain filling. Cd-O may represent Cd binding to organic acids in vacuoles and/or binding to cell walls in the apoplast. Despite this change of ligands, which was attributed to plant senescence, Cd was largely immobile in the shoots since only 0.77% of Cd in the shoots were transferred into the grains. Thus, both storage forms (Cd-S and Cd-O) contributed to the retention of Cd in the straw. Cd was mainly bound to S in nodes I and grains (Cd-S > 84%), and these organs were strongly enriched in heavy isotopes compared to straw (Δ114/110Cd grains/nodes- straw = 0.66-0.72‰) and flag leaves (Δ114/110Cd grains/nodes-flag leaves = 0.49-0.52‰). Hence, xylem to phloem transfer in the node favors heavy isotopes, and the Cd-S form may persist during the transfer of Cd from node to grain. This study highlights the importance of Cd storage forms during its journey to grain and potentially into the food chain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthias Wiggenhauser
- Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Environmental Systems Science, Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland
- ISTerre, Université Grenoble Alpes, Université Savoie Mont Blanc, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, Institut Français des Sciences et Technologies des Transports, de l’Aménagement et des Réseaux, Grenoble, France
| | - Anne-Marie Aucour
- Laboratoire de Geologie de Lyon, Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, Université Lyon 1, Université de Lyon, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Lyon, France
| | - Philippe Telouk
- Laboratoire de Geologie de Lyon, Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, Université Lyon 1, Université de Lyon, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Lyon, France
| | - Hester Blommaert
- ISTerre, Université Grenoble Alpes, Université Savoie Mont Blanc, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, Institut Français des Sciences et Technologies des Transports, de l’Aménagement et des Réseaux, Grenoble, France
| | - Géraldine Sarret
- ISTerre, Université Grenoble Alpes, Université Savoie Mont Blanc, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, Institut Français des Sciences et Technologies des Transports, de l’Aménagement et des Réseaux, Grenoble, France
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