Effects of Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag (GGBS) on · Draft 1 1 Effects of Ground Granulated...
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Effects of Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag (GGBS) on hydrological responses of Cd contaminated soil planted with
a herbal medicinal plant (Pinellia ternata)
Journal: Canadian Geotechnical Journal
Manuscript ID cgj-2018-0868.R2
Manuscript Type: Article
Date Submitted by the Author: 31-May-2019
Complete List of Authors: Ng, C.W.W.; The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Civil and Environmental EngineeringChowdhury, Nilufar; The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Civil and Environmental EngineeringWong, James Tsz Fung; The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Civil and Environmental Engineering
Keyword: plant growth, soil suction, soil contamination, medicinal plant, cadmium
Is the invited manuscript for consideration in a Special
Issue? :Not applicable (regular submission)
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1 Effects of Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag (GGBS) on hydrological responses of Cd 2 contaminated soil planted with a herbal medicinal plant (Pinellia ternata)
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4 Charles Wang Wai NG1, Nilufar CHOWDHURY1, James Tsz Fung WONG1, *
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6 1 Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science
7 and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong
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9 Name: Charles Wang Wai NG
10 Affiliation: Chair Professor, CLP Holdings Professor of Sustainability
11 Tel: (852) 2358 8760
12 E-mail: [email protected]
13 Address: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong University of
14 Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong
15
16 Name: Nilufar CHOWDHURY
17 Affiliation: Research Assistant
18 Tel: (852) 2358 7166
19 E-mail: [email protected]
20 Address: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong University of
21 Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong
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23 Name: Dr. James Tsz Fung WONG (*Corresponding author)
24 Affiliation: Post-doctoral Fellow
25 Tel: (852) 9601 7059
26 E-mail: [email protected]
27 Address: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong University of
28 Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong
29
30 *Compliance with Ethical Standards:
31 The authors would like to declare that they have no conflict of interest, and there were no human
32 nor animal participants in this research.
33
34 A manuscript prepared for the submission to:
35 Canadian Geotechnical Journal
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37 Article type:
38 Research Article
39
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40 Abstract
41 Pinellia ternata is a medicinal herb often contaminated by cadmium (Cd), which inhibits its
42 growth and metabolism. In this study, the ground granulated blast-furnace slag (GGBS) is
43 proposed as a soil amendment to reduce plant Cd availability and therefore increase transpiration
44 induced suction. Field soil (silty gravelly sand) contaminated with 1.5 mg kg-1 of Cd was
45 collected from Guizhou, China. The growth of P. ternata in 0, 3, and 5% GGBS amended soil
46 has been investigated in a temperature and humidity-controlled chamber. Soil amended with 3
47 and 5% GGBS, significantly (P<0.05) increased leaf area index (LAI) by 29 and 30%, root area
48 index (RAI) by 65 and 66%, respectively, compared to untreated soil. Soil suction was
49 significantly (P<0.05) increased by 58% in soils amended with 3 and 5% GGBS. Compared to
50 control, soil amended with 3 and 5% GGBS has exhibited higher AEV and higher water
51 retention ability. It revealed that addition of GGBS increased soil water availability for plant
52 growth. This implies that to achieve statistically significant improvement in P. ternata growth
53 and soil hydrological responses, 3% GGBS should be applied in Cd contaminated soil.
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55 Keywords: soil contamination; cadmium; plant growth; medicinal plant; soil suction
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56 Introduction
57 Plant growth performance is affected by many abiotic and biotic factors, in particular the
58 presence of environmental stresses such as heavy metal. The effects of heavy metals on the
59 growth of different plant species have been widely investigated and reported (Pulford and
60 Watson 2003). However, the relationships between the presence of heavy metal in soil, plant
61 growth performance, and plant-induced soil hydraulic performance, are rarely reported. In this
62 study, Pinellia ternata has been used as the target plant species. It is an herbal plant that has been
63 using in traditional Chinese medicine for more than 1000 years (Hu and Tao 2005). This plant is
64 often found contaminated by Cd (Peng et al. 2007), as in recent days, most of the cultivated lands
65 in China are contaminated with heavy metals such as Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Hg, Mn, Pb, Ni, and Zn
66 (Man et al. 2010; Zhong et al. 2017). The soil sample was collected from Guizhou province
67 exhibit Cd contamination which has one of the highest P. ternata cultivable lands in China
68 (Zhang et al. 2013). Cd is one of the most toxic heavy metals which enters in agricultural soils
69 mainly through anthropogenic activities such as the addition of phosphate fertilizer (Nagajyoti et
70 al. 2010, Murtaza et al. 2015). It increases stomatal resistance in most plant species and therefore
71 causing a reduction of the transpiration rate (Barceló and Poschenrieder 1990; Benavides et al.
72 2005). Moreover, Cd affects the physiological and biochemical process in plants such as plants
73 growth, photosynthesis, and transpiration system (Bazzaz et al. 1974; Baszyński et al. 1986;
74 Barceló and Poschenrieder 1990; Benavides et al. 2005). Whereas plant transpiration, plant leaf,
75 and root traits influence evapotranspiration induced soil suction and soil water retention ability
76 (Leung et al. 2015). This implies, reducing Cd uptake in the plant should stimulate plant growth
77 and induce corresponding hydrological changes in Cd contaminated soil.
78
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79 Researchers have adopted different soil heavy metal remediation techniques such as soil
80 solidification, ion exchange, soil washing (Kogbara et al. 2011; Dermont et al. 2008; Ok et al.
81 2011). Application of different soil amendments such as fly ash and quicklime (CaO) (Dermatas
82 and Meng, 2003), red mud and lime (Gray et al. 2006), waste oyster shells (WOS) (Ok et al.
83 2011), farmyard manure (FYM), and lignite (LT) (Rehman et al. 2016) are also widely studied.
84 In addition, phytoremediation has also been adopted to reduce the heavy metal concentration in
85 soil (Hu et al. 2014; Li et al. 2018). Ng et al. (2017) investigated that GGBS as a soil amendment
86 can increase soil pH as well as reduce H2S concentration in soil. GGBS is an industrial by-
87 product that has successfully been used in Cd immobilization previously (Kogbara et al. 2011). It
88 was also effective to immobilize heavy metals in soil (Wang et al. 2018). Although plant induced
89 soil hydrological responses have been studied by many researchers (Ng et al. 2016; Boldrin et al.
90 2017; Ng and Menzies 2007; Ng and Leung 2012), change in plant induced soil hydrological
91 responses after application of these heavy metal remediation techniques are not well understood.
92 With the presence of vegetation, Cd immobilization process in soil becomes complicated due to
93 rhizosphere effects of plants, which may rise Cd availability through continuous acidification
94 and organic acid excretions (Loganathan et al. 2012). Therefore, investigation on Cd
95 immobilization in vegetated soil and corresponding change in soil hydrological responses should
96 carry out. In addition, Wang et al. (2018) investigated that steel slag which composition is
97 comparable to GGBS (Ng et al. 2017) is found to be rich in micronutrient, improves soil quality,
98 and increase rice yield. In this study, GGBS is used as a soil amendment to promote the growth
99 of P.ternata by reducing its Cd uptake in a Cd contaminated soil. However, the performance of
100 GGBS in stimulating plant growth by reducing its Cd uptake and subsequent changes in plant
101 induced hydrological responses of soil are yet to be investigated. Therefore, this study aims to
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102 investigate the effects of GGBS on P. ternata growth by reducing its Cd uptake and
103 corresponding change in plant induced hydrological responses of Cd contaminated soil.
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105 Material and Methods
106 Test plan and selection of optimum percentage of GGBS
107 According to Zhang (2013), pH 6-7.5 is suitable for the growth of P. ternata. It was found
108 that soil amended with 3 and 5% GGBS provide pH 6.4 and 7, respectively (Fig. A1) whereas
109 the soil pH of the control set-up was 4.9. Therefore, 3 and 5% GGBS was selected as the GGBS
110 application percentages for the plant test. In this study, P. ternata was planted in 70% compacted
111 Cd contaminated soil amended with 0, 3 and 5% of GGBS. A relatively low soil density (70%)
112 was adopted for plant root development. For three test conditions with the monitoring of plant
113 characteristics, plant digestions and evapotranspiration induced drying cycle was conducted to
114 investigate GGBS effects on Cd uptake by plants and its influence on plant characteristics and
115 soil hydrological responses.
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117 Test set-up and instrumentation
118 Figure 1 shows the schematic setup of a plant pot. Nine test pots were constructed in total,
119 each having a diameter of 240 mm and a height of 160mm. The soil was compacted in boxes up
120 to 130 mm depth. Six drainage holes each with a diameter of 5 mm were made in the bottom of
121 the pots create a free drainage and side boundaries of the pots were impermeable and the top
122 boundary was exposed to the environment. All test pots were placed in a temperature (25 ± 1°C)
123 and humidity-controlled (60 ± 5%) plant room during the testing period. The light was provided
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124 by the cool white fluorescent lamp that placed on the top of each pot and the intensity was set at
125 approximately 120 µmol m2 s-1 within the 400–700 nm waveband (i.e., equivalent to 5.0 MJ
126 m2day-1). This particular range of waves is known to be favorable for plant photosynthesis (Ng et
127 al. 2016). One small tip tensiometer at depth of 10 mm (above the root zone) and two
128 tensiometers at depths of 50 mm and 90 mm (within root depth zone) were installed just directly
129 beneath plant seeds located in the middle of the pot to minimize any boundary effects on
130 measurements. Since there is the possibility of water cavitation, the maximum suction value that
131 can be measured by tensiometer was between 80–90 kPa (Fredlund and Rahardjo 1993). Three
132 moisture sensors (Decagon EC-5) were installed at 10 mm, 50 mm and 90 mm depths right next
133 to the tensiometer to monitor Volumetric Water Content (VWC) of soil. The purposes of
134 installing moisture sensors were to check the measurements of suction against corresponding
135 VWC and to investigate the effects of GGBS on root growth as well as soil water holding
136 capacity.
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138 Testing materials and pot preparation
139 Cadmium contaminated field soil was used in this study, which was collected from Bijie city,
140 Guizhou province, China (27°24´N, 105°20´E). According to the Unified Soil Classification
141 System (ASTM, 2011), This field soil can be classified as silty gravelly sand. Based on the
142 results from standard proctor tests, the maximum dry density and the corresponding optimum
143 water content (by dry mass) of the soil are 1776 kg m-3 and 30%, respectively. GGBS was
144 collected from K. Wah Construction Materials Company. Index properties of soil and GGBS are
145 summarized in Table 1. The chemical compositions of soil and GGBS are summarized in Table 2.
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146 All soil used for the pot test was thoroughly mixed. The soil in each plant pot was then
147 compacted by moist tamping at a relative compaction (RC) of 70% (corresponding to the dry
148 density of 1243.2 kg m-3). In each pot, the soil was compacted in 7 layers, with 18 mm each.
149 Between each successive layer, the soil surface was scarified to provide better contact. Plant
150 seeds of P. ternata weighted 4 – 7 grams was selected for each plant pot. Seven seeds were
151 sowed in each pot. In order to take natural variations of seeds into account, each condition was
152 prepared with three replicates (n=3), i.e. nine pots in total were studied.
153
154 Test procedures
155 After sowing, all seeds were grown for 2 months in the plant room. To simulate day and
156 night, the lights were turned on for 12 h and then off for 12 h each day. Irrigation frequency was
157 fixed at 200 ml in a 3 days interval which was sufficient to keep the soil moist to help the plant
158 to grow. All test conditions were subjected to two-stage drying test where a ponding head on the
159 surface was applied to all plant pots until (i) suctions at three depths decreased to 0 kPa, and (ii)
160 percolation through the bottom drainage holes was observed. At second stage test,
161 evapotranspiration induced suctions were recorded to quantify the effects of evapotranspiration
162 on suction by GGBS treated and without GGBS treated test conditions. The drainage holes at the
163 bottom of all the pots were open during the monitoring period. In this case, suction recorded by
164 each tensiometer in the three test conditions was induced by evapotranspiration process of the
165 plant-soil system. During the growth period, the leaf area index (LAI) was measured every 7
166 days. The LAI is a dimensionless index and it is defined as the ratio of the total leaf area to the
167 projected area of the canopy of a single plant on the soil surface in the horizontal plane (Watson
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168 1947). The LAI was calculated using the Image J software (Rasband 2011) based on image
169 analysis technique. In brift, the images of single plant leaves were taken by high- resolution
170 camera. Analyzing these images leaf area was calculated by the software.
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172 Plants were harvested two months after the growth. They were washed with Mili-Q water to
173 remove dust and soil mineral particles. Plants were dissected into different organs including
174 leaves, stems, tuber, and roots. The Relative Water Content (RWC) of leaves was determined,
175 which is a measurement of its hydration status (actual water content) relative to its maximal
176 water holding capacity at full turgidity. The RWC was determined using the procedure described
177 by Smart and Bingham (1974). A fixed diameter of leaf discs was taken, and the fresh weight
178 was determined. Then the leaf disks were submerged in water for 4 hr, and the weight was
179 recorded, which is defined as turgid weight. The dry weight of leaf tissue was measured by oven-
180 drying the leaves disc to a constant weight at about 85° C using an oven. The RWC was
181 calculated following the equation described below:
182
183 (1) RWC (%) = ((fresh weight -dry weight))/ ((turgid weight -dry weight)) * 100
184
185 The root length and root area index (RAI) of all the plants were determined. The RAI is
186 defined as the ratio of total root surface area for a given depth range to the circular cross-
187 sectional area of soil in the horizontal plane (Francour and Semroud 1992). The RAI is a
188 dimensionless index that indicates the water uptake ability of roots within the root zone. The
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189 plant roots were carefully removed from the plant pots. The maximum root length was defined as
190 the deepest soil depth beyond which no root was found. RAI was calculated according to the
191 method adopted by Francour and Semroud (1992). The weight of a selected segment of roots was
192 measured and the diameter of each root was measured through slide calipers to calculate the
193 surface area of that definite segment of roots. Finally, RAI at any depth within a root zone can be
194 determined by dividing the total outside surface area of roots at a given depth by the planar
195 cross-sectional area of soil.
196
197 To determine the Cd concentration in leaves, stems, tubers, and roots, plant samples were
198 oven dried at 60 °C for 24 h (Liang et al. 1989). After drying, nitric acid digestion of plant
199 materials was conducted to analyze the Cd concentration in different plant organs. Plant
200 digestion was conducted according to Park et al. (2011). Plant sample was grounded and kept in
201 a 25 mL digestion tube. 5 mL concentrated nitric acid was added to the digestion tube and kept
202 in the fume cupboard overnight for cold digestion. With a temperature-controlled digestion block,
203 the samples were heated gradually up to 140°C until only 1 mL digest was left. The samples
204 were then brought to room temperature, diluted with Milli-Q water and filtered with filter paper.
205 The cadmium concentration in the filtered solution was analyzed using an Inductively Coupled
206 Plasma Optical Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-OES).
207
208 Statistical analysis
209 The statistical package SPSS Version 20 (2011) was used for statistical analysis. Significant
210 statistical differences between different data were assessed with one-way ANOVA (analysis of
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211 variance) analyses. To determine the significant differences among the means of treatments post-
212 hoc Tukey’s honestly significant difference (HSD) method was used. Results were considered
213 statistically significant when the P value is less than 0.05, which corresponds to a 95%
214 confidence interval.
215
216 Results and discussion
217 Effects of GGBS on plant characteristics
218 Figure 2 shows the LAI of the plants in three different test conditions where Cd
219 contaminated control soil (without GGBS treated soil), 3% and 5% GGBS amended soil
220 represented by CS, 3% GAS and 5% GAS, respectively. In the figure, it is shown that soil
221 amended with 3 and 5% GGBS significantly (P<0.05) increased LAI by 29 and 33%,
222 respectively, compared to CS. Similar observation was found in the leaf of bean plants. Bean leaf
223 cell expansion get hampered after contacting with 3µM cadmium for 48 h (Poschenrieder et al.
224 1989). Baryla et al. (2001) investigated on leaf expansion growth of B. juncea. The experiment
225 was carried out in 25µM Cd2+ in hydroponic culture where it was observed that after 24 h. of Cd
226 exposure leaf growth rate declined. After 48 h. the growth rate was 25% of the control treatment
227 while after 96 h. leaf growth was stopped due to the toxicity of Cd. According to Poschenrieder
228 et al. (1989) leaves of plants grown with Cd have a higher bulk elastic modulus than control
229 leaves, i.e. their cell walls are less elastic. Decreased cell wall extensibility may be a cause of
230 reduced cell expansion. The cd-induced increase of stomatal resistance and decreased cell
231 expansion causes inhibition of leaf growth (Poschenrieder et al. 1989). In addition, severe
232 reduction of the cell size and decreases in the intercellular spaces in Cd-treated plants also affect
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233 the leaf segment area (Barceló et al. 1988, Skórzyńska-Polit and Baszyński 1995). It shown that
234 3 and 5% GGBS significantly (P<0.05) reduced the cadmium concentration of leaf by 48 and
235 53%, respectively, compared to the control test (Table 3). The reason behind the reduction of Cd
236 concentration in P. ternata can be explained by the sorption mechanism of GGBS. Sorption is
237 attributed to coordination through OH-, Si-Al-O- functional groups (Strawn et al. 2000). ATR-
238 FTIR test indicates GGBS possess of OH-, Si-Al-O- functional groups that can potentially sorb
239 cadmium onto its surface. In addition, GGBS increased the soil pH and results in the
240 precipitation of Cd (Xiao et al. 2017). This implies that GGBS was effective to reduce the Cd
241 stress in plant leaves and therefore causing a significant increment of LAI, compared to CS test
242 condition (control). It should be noted that substantial research work has been conducted to
243 investigate the interactions between soil, heavy metal, and plant growth performance. The
244 complexity of parameters included in each single experiment, such as plant species, soil type,
245 type and concentration of the heavy metal(s) makes the comparable literature limited. Especially
246 the target plant species (P. ternata) in this study is rarely investigated.
247
248 Figure 3 shows the effects of GGBS on root length of P. ternata, where Cd contaminated
249 control soil (without GGBS treated soil), 3% and 5% GGBS amended soil represented by CS, 3%
250 GAS and 5% GAS, respectively. It is observed that soil amended with 3 and 5% GGBS
251 significantly (P<0.05) increased the root length by 37.5% compared to CS soil. Whereas,
252 Wiszniewska et al. (2017) observed two different results for two different species where A.
253 montanum species showed longer root length in 2.5 µM CdCl2 treated medium compared to no
254 Cd treated medium. Another plant species, D. jasminea shorter root length was observed in same
255 Cd treated medium compared to no Cd treated medium. Such response is associated with the
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256 detrimental effect of Cd on root growth. Cd reduces root growth more significantly than that of
257 the shoot. Although the quantity of metal uptake and intensity of root development inhibition
258 may differ with the plant species and the growth condition (Breckle 1991). While according to
259 Barceló and Poschenrieder (1990), metal toxicity can alter the plant root hormonal balance. The
260 negative effect on spatial distribution and reduction of root hair surface cause bad root-soil
261 contact and minimize the capacity of roots to uptake water and nutrients (Barceló and
262 Poschenrieder 1990). It is observed that soil amended with 3 and 5% GGBS significantly
263 (P<0.05) reduced the Cd concentration in root by 63 and 64%, respectively, compared with
264 control (Table 3). Thus, it implies that GGBS was effective in increasing root length by reducing
265 Cd uptake by P. ternata.
266
267 Figure 4 shows the distributions of Root Area Index (RAI) of P. ternata with depth in
268 different test conditions where Cd contaminated control soil (without GGBS treated soil), 3%
269 and 5% GGBS amended soil represented by CS, 3% GAS and 5% GAS, respectively. It is
270 observed that the RAI index of this plant is markedly different from those of the tress. RAI
271 reduced with depth almost linearly. The peak root area index was at depth 50mm where the
272 seeds were shown in beginning. Soil amended with 3 and 5% GGBS significantly (P<0.05)
273 increased the peak root area index of P. ternata by 65 and 66%, respectively, compared with
274 control. Cd induced reduction of root densification and root elongation was observed by many
275 researchers while investigating the effects of Cd on plant (Tukendorf and Rauser 1990; Gunse et
276 al. 1992; Wójicik and Tukendorf 1999; Nocito et al. 2002). Roots of wheat seedlings also
277 showed lower root length and lower root surface area due to Cd toxicity. However, in contrast,
278 Breckle (1991) observed that due to cadmium toxicity root length elongation was affected but the
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279 formation of more lateral roots more compact and lateral root system was observed. therefore, it
280 can be summarized that depending on plant type and tissues these types of variation may occur.
281 Although in the current study the Cd contaminated CS soil was acidic (pH 4.9) and soil pH
282 influence the plant growth significantly. According to Robson (1989), the bacteria that live in
283 association with the roots of legumes get less effective in acidic soil and hamper the nitrogen
284 fixation process. Whereas nitrate can stimulate the root primary and lateral growth of roots
285 (Dong et al. 2018). As GGBS amended soil helps to increase the soil pH so the detrimental effect
286 of acidic soil on RAI gets reduced, hence increase the lateral root formation as well as root
287 elongation.
288
289 Effects of GGBS on water retention behavior of soil
290 Figure 5 shows the drying path of the soil water retention curve (SWRC) of three test
291 conditions where Cd contaminated control soil (without GGBS treated soil), 3% and 5% GGBS
292 amended soil represented by CS, 3% GAS and 5% GAS, respectively. The SWRCs were
293 obtained by relating the measured VWC to suction during the test from three replicates at 50 mm
294 depth where highest RAI was found. The van Genuchten (1980) equation was used to fit the
295 SWRCs and the fitting parameters adopted are summarized in Table 5. The air-entry value (AEV)
296 of the soil in CS, 3% GAS and 5% GAS test conditions are 3 kPa, 5 kPa, and 5 kPa, respectively.
297 Although air entry value is the same for 3% and 5% GAS GGBS amended soil showed higher air
298 entry value compared to CS test condition. For any given suction, 3% and 5% GAS test
299 condition showed higher water retention ability than the CS test. According to Scanlan and Hinz
300 (2010) for a given water content root occupancy in soil pore space can reduce the diameter of
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301 soil pore throat which increases suction according to the capillary law. From figures 3 and 4 it
302 has been showed that soil amended with GGBS significantly increase root length and RAI. The
303 observed increased root length and RAI is responsible for such response of AEV and water
304 retention ability of the soil.
305
306 Effects of GGBS on soil suction and VWC of soil
307 Figures 6 (a) and (b) show the measured suction and VWC during six days of
308 evapotranspiration at 50 mm depth. CS represent control soil whereas 3% GAS and 5% GAS
309 represents vegetated soil treated with 3% and 5% GGBS, respectively. The reason for selecting
310 this particular depth of measurement for investigation is to correlate evapotranspiration-induced
311 suction with peak RAI of the plant which will help to understand the soil-water-root interaction.
312 Soil amended with 3 and 5% GGBS significantly (P<0.05) increased the peak ET-induced
313 suction at 50 mm depth by 58% compared to CS soil. The observed greater increase in suction in
314 the 3% and 5% GAS test conditions were attributed to the greater reduction in VWC
315 (0.05<P<0.1) due to root water uptake (Fig. 6b). Regarding GGBS effect during the drying
316 period, the suction difference between 3% and 5% GGBS was 3-7 kPa initially but the peak ET-
317 induced suction was the same for both conditions. A reduction of the root system size clearly
318 affects water relations of plants, especially on soils of less than field water capacity (Barceló and
319 Poschenrieder 1990). However, Cd influenced plant-water relationship. It reduces the water
320 absorption surface by inhibiting the formation of root hairs. Moreover, according to Barceló and
321 Poschenrieder (1990), heavy metal also reduces the membrane permeability and the number and
322 diameter of vascular bundles. Previous studies showed that there is a direct correlation between
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323 the cadmium concentration and the time dependent inhibition of net photosynthesis and
324 transpiration in corn and sunflower (Bazzaz et al. 1974), tomato seedlings (Jing et al. 2005), and
325 cucumber (Sun et al. 2015) which indicates early effects of cadmium was on stomatal resistance
326 (Perfus-Barbeoch et al. 2002). This implies that the 3% and 5% GAS allowed more root water
327 uptake and transpiration which leads to more ET-induced suction compared to CS test conditions.
328
329 Figure 7 shows the suction profile along depth before and after six days of
330 evapotranspiration induced drying. CS represents control soil whereas 3% GAS and 5% GAS
331 represents vegetated soil treated with 3% and 5% GGBS, respectively. It is shown that the peak
332 ET-induced suction at depth 50 mm in the 3% and 5% GGBS amended soil was 58% (P<0.05)
333 higher respectively compared to the peak ET-induced suction in the CS soil. Suction at depth 10
334 and 90 mm has also increased but the difference was not significant (P<0.05) compared to
335 control treatment. Although soil surface was exposed to the atmosphere, the peak ET-induced
336 suction was observed in 50 mm depth where the higher RAI was found where root water uptake
337 is likely to be greater (Garg et al. 2015). Suction magnitude varies with LAI and RAI.
338 Evapotranspiration was found to be proportional to these two plant traits (Garg et al. 2015).
339 Figures 2 and 4 show that LAI and RAI have significantly increased in 3 and 5% GAS test
340 conditions which results in higher suction. In addition, it is observed that soil amended with 3
341 and 5% GGBS significantly increased relative water content (RWC) of leaves by 16 and 27%
342 (P<0.05), respectively compared with control test (Table 4). Such response of RWC might also
343 represent the higher suction mechanism of GGBS amended soil. The reason is that in a
344 transpiring plant a hydraulic gradient developed between the leaves and the soil in contact with
345 the root system. It causes the transportation of water through the xylem of the plant. 3% and 5%
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346 GAS plants stay under low Cd stress compared to CS (Table 3) and which results in higher RWC
347 in leaves of GGBS amended soil compared to leaves of CS soil. That indicates more water
348 transportation from soil to leaves through xylem of the plants in GGBS amended soil compared
349 to CS soil resulting in higher suction in 3 and 5% GAS. However, studies have revealed that Cd
350 inhibits transpiration, with the hindrance in water flow attributed to hydro-active stomatal
351 closure (Leita et al. 1993; Marchiol et al. 1996) which results in less suction in CS soil compared
352 to GGBS treated soil.
353
354 Effects of GGBS on the correlation between plant traits (LAI, RAI) and peak
355 evapotranspiration induced soil suction
356 Figures 8(a) and (b) show the correlation between leaf Cd concentration, LAI, and suction
357 where CS represents control soil whereas 3% GAS and 5% GAS represents vegetated soil treated
358 with 3% and 5% GGBS, respectively. Figure 8(a) shows a strong negative correlation (R2=0.98)
359 between leaf Cd concentration and LAI. It was observed that in control treatment leaf Cd
360 concentration was 0.24-0.33 mg kg-1 and corresponding LAI was 0.96-1.25. Whereas soil
361 amended with 3 and 5% GGBS show leaf Cd concentration 0.10- 0.21 mg kg-1 and
362 corresponding LAI was 1.32-1.62. This revealed that GGBS has reduced the Cd uptake by plant
363 resulting in lower Cd concentration in leaf. Cd induced inhibition in leaf growth was reduced
364 which results in greater LAI in 3 and 5% GGBS amended soil compared with control. Figure 8
365 (b) shows that there is a strong positive correlation (R2=0.97) between LAI and soil suction. It is
366 observed that in control treatment LAI is 0.96-1.25 and corresponding suction is 13-21 kPa.
367 Whereas soil amended with 3 and 5% GGBS show LAI 1.32-1.62 and corresponding suction is
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368 24-33 kPa. The previous study also observed the positive correlation between LAI and peak ET-
369 induced soil suction (Ng et al., 2016). Higher LAI results in the higher evapotranspiration as the
370 plant individual has more leaf surface area and hence more stomata, to receive more energy for
371 transpiration (Kelliher et al. 1995), which results in higher suction.
372
373 Figures 9(a) and (b) show the correlation between root Cd concentration, RAI, and suction
374 where CS represents control soil whereas 3% GAS and 5% GAS represents vegetated soil treated
375 with 3% and 5% GGBS, respectively. Figure 9(a) shows a strong negative correlation (R2=0.98)
376 between root Cd concentration and RAI. It was observed that in control treatment root Cd
377 concentration was 0.60-0.69 mg kg-1 and corresponding RAI was 0.06-0.09. Whereas soil
378 amended with 3 and 5% GGBS show root Cd concentration 0.18- 0.29 mg kg-1 and
379 corresponding RAI was 0.12-0.16. This revealed that GGBS has reduced the Cd uptake by plant
380 resulting in lower Cd concentration in the root. Although GGBS treated soil reduced the Cd
381 concentration in the root, root Cd concentration was found higher compared to leaf. A similar
382 result was observed by Ramos et al. (2002) where root Cd concentration was 139 mg kg-1 and
383 shoot Cd concentration was 15.7 mg kg-1. Huge difference of Cd concentration between leaf and
384 root showed that a significant constraint of the inside Cd transportation from roots to other
385 organs of plants. However, it is observed that Cd induced inhibition in root growth get reduced
386 which results in greater RAI in 3 and 5% GGBS amended soil compared with control. Figure 9
387 (b) shows that there is a strong positive correlation (R2=0.95) between RAI and soil suction. It is
388 observed that in control treatment RAI is 0.06-0.09 and corresponding suction is 13-21 kPa.
389 Whereas soil amended with 3 and 5% GGBS show RAI 0.12-0.16 and corresponding suction is
390 24-33 kPa. However, Cd disturbs plant–water relationships, causing a direct reduction in the
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391 absorption surface by inhibiting the formation of root hairs, and membrane permeability (Barceló
392 and Poschenrieder 1990). GGBS amended soil reduce the toxicity effect of Cd on root formation
393 which results in greater RAI resulting in higher suction.
394
395 Conclusions
396 This study investigates the effects of GGBS on P. ternata growth and corresponding change
397 in hydrological responses of Cd contaminated soil. This study also exhibited the correlation
398 between Cd concentration in plant leaf and LAI, as well as root Cd concentration and RAI.
399 Correlation between plant traits (LAI, RAI) with peak evapotranspiration induced soil suction
400 was also established.
401
402 Compared to control test, soil amended with 3 and 5% GGBS significantly (P<0.05) reduced
403 Cd concentration in leaf, stem, root and tuber, respectively. Due to the reduction of Cd uptake by
404 P. ternata, improved plant characteristics have been observed. Soil amended with 3 and 5%
405 GGBS, significantly (P<0.05) increases LAI, RAI, and maximum root length. Compared to
406 control treatment. significant (P<0.05) increment of soil suction is observed in both soils
407 amended with 3 and 5% GGBS. Peak suction is found at 50mm depth where peak RAI is
408 observed. AEV value of soil amended with 3 and 5% GGBS increases by 2 kPa which indicates
409 higher water retention ability of GGBS amended soil. A good correlation (R2= 0.98) between
410 leaf Cd concentration and LAI as well as root Cd concentration and RAI was also observed.
411 Positive correlation between plant traits (LAI, RAI) and peak evapotranspiration induced soil
412 suction was also exhibited. This implies that plants in GGBS amended soil experienced lower Cd
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413 stress than control soil which promotes P. ternata growth as well as its induced suction and
414 water retention ability of Cd contaminated soil. In addition, the observed result exhibited non-
415 significant (P>0.05) difference between 3 and 5% GGBS amended the soil. This also implies, to
416 achieve statistically significant improvement in P. ternata growth and soil hydrological
417 responses, soil amended with 3% GGBS should be used. Therefore, application of GGBS in Cd
418 contaminated agricultural field may improve the growth of P. ternata and hence will help to
419 promote soil hydrological responses. This paper indicates that plants growth in Cd contaminated
420 soil can be stimulated by using GGBS, as indicated by the increase in both LAI and RAI. It
421 implies that GGBS can be used to improved plant growth performance and therefore the induced
422 soil suction in contaminated soil. However, it should be noted that GGBS may possesses of trace
423 heavy metal and is not recommended to be applied on farmlands alone. Future study on the
424 combined effects of GGBS and other soil amendments such as biochar on plant growth
425 performance and induced soil suction is needed.
426
427 Acknowledgements
428 The author would like to acknowledge research grant 51778166 funded by National Natural
429 Science Foundation of China.
430
431 References
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List of Tables
Table 1. Index properties of soil and GGBS.
Table 2. Chemical compositions of soil and GGBS.
Table 3. Effects of GGBS on Cd concentration in different organs of P. ternate.
Table 4. Effects of GGBS on Relative Water Content of leaf (RWC) of P. ternate.
Table 5. Summary of fitting parameters for van Genuchten (1980) equation.
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Table 1. Index properties of soil and GGBS
Index properties Unit Soil GGBS
Standard compaction tests
Maximum dry density kg m-3 1776 1500
Optimum moisture content 30 24
Particle size distribution
Gravel content (2-5mm) % 10 N. D¶
Sand content (63µm- 2mm) 80 4
Silt content (20µm - 63µm) 8 16
Clay content (< 20µm) 2 80
D10 0.15 N/AϮ
D30 mm 0.42 N/AϮ
D60 1.2 N/AϮ
Coefficient of uniformity (D60/ D10)
8 N/AϮ
Coefficient of curvature ((D30)2/ (D60 D10)
N/AϮ 0.98 N/AϮ
Specific gravity 2.7 2.9
Atterberg limit
Plastic limit 36 N/AϮ
Liquid limit % 60 N/AϮ
Plasticity index 26 N/AϮ
Soil texture* N/AϮSilty gravelly
sandN/AϮ
* ASTM (2011)
Ϯ N/A= Not Applicable
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¶ N. D.= Not Detected
Table 2. Chemical compositions of soil and GGBS
Chemical compositions Unit Soil GGBS
MgO N.D* 7.20
Al2O
3 25.50 13.50
SiO3 50.35 34.10
SO4 2.60 2.60
K2O 0.77 0.80
CaO 0.42 40.50
TiO2 4.40 0.70
MnO N.D* 0.30
Fe2O
3
Mass
Percentage
(%)
18.50 0.30
* N. D.= Not Detected
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Table 3. Effects of GGBS on Cd concentration in different organs of P. ternata
Cd concentration (mg kg-1)Test ID
Leaf Stem Tuber Root
CS 0.30 ± 0.04a 0.41 ± 0.05 a 0.34 ± 0.04 a 0.68 ± 0.05 a
3% GAS 0.16 ± 0.04b 0.15 ± 0.03 b 0.17 ± 0.05 b 0.25 ± 0.05 b
5% GAS 0.15 ± 0.05 b 0.16 ± 0.05 b 0.15 ± 0.03 b 0.24 ± 0.06 b
Values are mean of 3 replicates. Different lower-case letters indicate that values are significantly different from each other at P < 0.05
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Table 4. Effects of GGBS on Relative Water Content of leaf (RWC) of P. ternata
Test ID Relative water content of leaf (%)
CS 75 ± 4a
3% GAS 87 ± 7b
5% GAS 88 ± 8b
Values are mean of 3 replicates. Different lower-case letters indicate that values are significantly different from each other at P < 0.05
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DraftTable 5. Summary of fitting parameters for van Genuchten (1980) equation
Drying SWRCTest ID ϴs (m3/m3) ϴr (m3/m3) α(m-1) n m
CS 0.35 0 0.03 1.8 1
3% GAS 0.35 0 0.035 2 0.61
5% GAS 0.35 0 0.031 2 0.007
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List of Figures
Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of the pot experimental set-up at (a) plan view and (b) cross-section view X–X (c) overview of the test set-up in temperature and humidity-controlled plant room
Fig. 2. The effects of GGBS on the Leaf Area Index (LAI) of P. ternata during the growth period.
Fig. 3. The effects of GGBS on the maximum root length of P. ternata after a 2- month of growth period.
Fig. 4. The effects of GGBS on Root Area Index (RAI) of P. ternata after a 2- month of growth period.
Fig. 5. Measured Soil Water Retention Curves (SWRCs) under different test conditions.
Fig. 6. The effects of GGBS on (a) suction and (b) VWC with time at a depth of 50 mm during evapotranspiration.
Fig. 7. The effects of GGBS on suction profiles before and after six days of drying.
Fig. 8. Relationship of Leaf Area Index (LAI) with (a) leaf Cd concentration (mg kg-1) and (b) peak ET-induced suction (kPa) at a depth of 50 mm under different test conditions.
Fig. 9. Relationship of Root Area Index (RAI) with (a) root Cd concentration (mg kg-1) and (b) peak ET-induced suction (kPa) at a depth of 50 mm under different test conditions.
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Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of the pot experimental set-up at (a) plan view and (b) cross-section view X–X (c) overview of the test set-up in temperature and humidity-controlled plant room
(a) (b)
(c)
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Time (day)
7 14 21 28 35 42 49 60
Leaf
Are
a In
dex
(LA
I)
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
1.4
1.6
1.8
CS3% GAS5% GAS
a
b
c
a
bb
a
bb
b
b b
a
b b
a
bb
a
bb
a
bb
Fig. 2. The effects of GGBS on the Leaf Area Index (LAI) of P. ternata during the growth period. [Mean values are reported with standard deviation (n=3)]. Different lower-case letters indicate that values are significantly different from each other at P < 0.05
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Time (day)
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140
Max
imum
root
leng
th (m
m)
0
50
100
150
200
CS3% GAS5% GASD. jasminea (control) D. jasminea ( Cd treated)A. montanum (control)A. montanum (Cd treated)
a
b
Fig. 3. The effects of GGBS on the maximum root length of P. ternata after a 2- month of growth period. Data of D. jasminea and A. montanum were retrieved from Wiszniewska et al. (2017). [Mean values are reported with standard deviation (n=3)]. Different lower-case letters indicate that values are significantly different from each other at P < 0.05
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Root Area Index
0.00 0.04 0.08 0.12 0.16 0.20D
epth
(mm
)40
50
60
70
80
90
100
110
120
CS 3% GAS 5% GAS
a b b
a
a
a
a
a
a
a
a
a
a
a
a
a
a
a
aa
Fig. 4. The effects of GGBS on Root Area Index (RAI) of P. ternata after a 2- month of growth period. Mean values are reported with standard deviation (n=3). Different lower-case letters indicate that values are significantly different from each other at P < 0.05.
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Suction (kPa)
0.1 1 10 100
Vol
umet
ric W
ater
Con
tent
(%)
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
CS3% GAS5% GAS
Fig. 5. Measured Soil Water Retention Curves (SWRCs) under different test conditions.
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Time (day)
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Suct
ion
(kPa
)
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
CS 3% GAS 5% GAS
a
b
a
b
b
a
b
b
a
b
b
aa
b
bb
b
Time (day)
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Vol
umet
ric w
ater
con
tent
(%)
20
25
30
35
40
CS 3% GAS 5% GAS
a
a
aa a
a
a
a
aa
a
a
a
Fig. 6. The effects of GGBS on (a) suction and (b) VWC with time at a depth of 50 mm during evapotranspiration. Mean values are reported with standard deviation (n=3). Different lower-case letters indicate that values are significantly different from each other at P < 0.05.
(a)
(b)
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Suction (kPa)
0 10 20 30 40D
epth
(mm
)0
20
40
60
80
100
CS_ B3% GAS_ B5% GAS_ B CS3% GAS5% GAS
a a a
a
a
b b
a a
Fig. 7. The effects of GGBS on suction profiles before and after six days of drying. Mean values are reported with standard deviation (n=3). Different lower-case letters indicate that values are significantly different from each other at P < 0.05.
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Leaf Cd concentration (mg kg-1)
0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4
Leaf
Are
a In
dex
0.9
1.0
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4
1.5
1.6
1.7
CS 3% GAS5% GAS
y= -2.49 x + 1.86R2 = 0.98
Leaf Area Index
0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8
Peak
ET-
indu
ced
suct
ion
(kPa
)
10
15
20
25
30
35
CS3% GAS5% GAS
y = 26.36 x - 11.65R2 = 0.97
Fig. 8. Relationship of Leaf Area Index (LAI) with (a) leaf Cd concentration (mg kg-1) and (b) peak ET-induced suction (kPa) at a depth of 50 mm under different test conditions.
(a)
(b)
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Root Cd concentration ( mg kg-1)
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
Root
Are
a In
dex
0.04
0.06
0.08
0.10
0.12
0.14
0.16
0.18
CS3% GAS 5% GAS
y= -0.142 x + 0.174R2 = 0.98
Root Area Index
0.04 0.06 0.08 0.10 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18
Peak
ET-
indu
ced
suct
ion
(kPa
)
10
15
20
25
30
35
CS3% GAS5% GAS
y = 174.62 x + 3.20R2 = 0.95
Fig. 9. Relationship of Root Area Index (RAI) with (a) root Cd concentration (mg kg-1) and (b) peak ET-induced suction (kPa) at a depth of 50 mm under different test conditions.
(a)
(b)
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List of Appendix
Fig. A1. Effects of GGBS on soil pH
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