Ecological risk assessment of metals in soils is important to develop the critical loads of metals in soils. Phytotoxicity is one of the endpoints for ecological risk assessment of soils contaminated with metals. The ...Ecological risk assessment of metals in soils is important to develop the critical loads of metals in soils. Phytotoxicity is one of the endpoints for ecological risk assessment of soils contaminated with metals. The sensitivity of eight Chinese plant species（bok choy, mustard, tomato, green chilli, paddy rice, barley, spinach and celery） to copper（Cu） and nickel（Ni） toxicity in two Chinese soils was investigated to assess their potential use for ecological risk assessment in the region. The results showed that bok choy and mustard were the two most sensitive species to Cu and Ni toxicities. Assessment of metal accumulation by the plants demonstrated that bok choy shoot had the highest bioconcentration factor（BCF, the ratio of metal concentration in plant shoots to metal concentration in soil）. Given the importance of bok choy to agricultural production in Asia, it is therefore important that these sensitive plant species are included in species sensitivity distributions for ecological risk assessment of Cu and Ni in soils.展开更多
基金financial support by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(40971262,40620120436 and 41401361)the International Copper Association,Rio Tinto Pty Ltd.and the Nickel Producers Environmental Research Association
文摘Ecological risk assessment of metals in soils is important to develop the critical loads of metals in soils. Phytotoxicity is one of the endpoints for ecological risk assessment of soils contaminated with metals. The sensitivity of eight Chinese plant species（bok choy, mustard, tomato, green chilli, paddy rice, barley, spinach and celery） to copper（Cu） and nickel（Ni） toxicity in two Chinese soils was investigated to assess their potential use for ecological risk assessment in the region. The results showed that bok choy and mustard were the two most sensitive species to Cu and Ni toxicities. Assessment of metal accumulation by the plants demonstrated that bok choy shoot had the highest bioconcentration factor（BCF, the ratio of metal concentration in plant shoots to metal concentration in soil）. Given the importance of bok choy to agricultural production in Asia, it is therefore important that these sensitive plant species are included in species sensitivity distributions for ecological risk assessment of Cu and Ni in soils.
