Phytoremediation efficacy of native vegetation for nutrients and heavy metals on soils amended with poultry litter and fertilizer

Figures & data

Table 1. Initial soil and poultry litter nutrient and heavy metal properties.

mS cm^−1			mg kg^−1
Component	pH	EC	Ca	Cd	Cu	Fe	K	Mg	Mn	P	Pb	Zn
Soil	6.06	0.05	238	–	0.8	143	139	36	10	97	5	1
Poultry Litter	6.58	17.43	15308	0.14	241	1704	25,327	53,792	512	11,884	0.8	318

–– = not detectable.

Table 2. Recurrent dominant plant species on experimental plots over the first and second year.

Common name	Scientific name	Relative amount
Cutleaf Evening primrose	Oenothera laciniata Hill	Average
Birdsrape Mustard	Brassica rapa L.	Abundant
Horseweed or Marestail	Conyza canadensis L.	Abundant
Hairy Cat’s ear or False Dandelion	Hypochaeris radicata L.	Below average
Common ragweed	Ambrosia artemisiifolia L.	Average
Morning Glory	Ipomoea turbinate Lag.	Below average
Redroot Pigweed	Amaranthus retroflexus L.	Below average
Crabgrass	Digitaria ischaemum (Schreb.) Muhl.	Below average
Common Morning Glory	Ipomoea purpurea (L.) Roth	Below average
Goosegrass	Eleusine indica (L.) Gaertn.	Average
Common Lambsquarters	Chenopodium album L.	Common place
Slender Amaranth	Amaranthus viridis L.	Abundant
False Daisy	Eclipta prostrata (L.) L.	Below average
Noogoora burr	Xanthium occidentale Bertol.	Average
Grasses	Poaceae L. or Gramineae L.	Abundant
Stinging nettle	Urtica dioica L.	Below average
Eastern Black Nightshade	Solanum ptychanthum Dunal	Below average
Pokeweed	Phytolacca americana L.	Moderately abundant
Common yellow woodsorrel	Oxalis stricta L.	Below average
Clammy Groundcherry	Physallis heterophylla Nees	Below average
Common Primrose	Primula vulgaris Huds.	Below average
White Clover	Trifolium repens L.	Below Average
Broadleaf Plantain	Plantago major L.	Below average
Fall panicum	Panicum dichotomiflorum Michx.	Average
Others---	Various species	Negligible and Rare

Figure 1. Monthly precipitation (mm) and mean temperature (^oC) records of the experimental region during the study and growing seasons (usclimatedata.com).

Figure 2. Monthly precipitation (mm) and Cumulative Growing Degree Days (GDD) ^oC records of experimental region during the study and growing seasons (usclimatedata.com).

Table 3. Means of biomass, and nutrient and metal uptake by Native Vegetation with (NVM) and without manure (NVN) for five cuttings.

	kg ha^−1	mg kg^−1
Treatment	Biomass	Ca	Cd	Cu	Fe	K	Mg	Mn	P	Pb	Zn
Year 1
NVM	4848 a	8236 a	0.49 a	12.7 a	68.3 a	36,068 a	3504 a	38.7a	5074 a	1.15 a	34.4 a
NVN	2929 b	8229 a	0.49 a	11.9 a	80.7 a	35,652 a	3579 a	33.3 a	4446 a	0.88 a	29.4 b
Year 2
NVM	5720 a	7562 a	0.31 a	9.27 a	93.9 a	32,818 a	3028 a	36.7 a	3158 a	0.51 a	30.4 b
NVN	3841 b	6969 a	0.29 a	9.03 a	95.4 a	22,571 b	2252 b	42.5 a	3297 a	0.53 a	33.8 a

Means within columns with the same letters are not significant at p < 0.05 levels.

Table 4. Biomass, and nutrient and metal uptake for five bi-monthly harvests.

Year 1		kg ha^−1	mg kg^−1
Treatment	Harvest	Biomass	Ca	Cd	Cu	Fe	K	Mg	Mn	P	Pb	Zn
NVM	1st	3770cd	9572b	0.477bc	10.07c	45.26b	34633b	2662d	32.48b	4424c	0.56c	28.74b
	2nd	12578a	6503d	0.657a	12.98b	27.78d	24051c	2210d	38.53ab	3370d	0.39c	29.05b
	3rd	3291cd	5714e	0.506b	11.80b	32.59d	36259b	3638c	37.08ab	4113c	1.07b	30.25b
	4th	1125d	9477c	0.383d	12.50b	204.15a	44008a	4172b	35.34b	5064b	1.00b	30.36b
	5th	1472d	9881b	0.412c	11.96b	93.70b	39309ab	5211a	23.25c	5260b	1.36a	28.84b
NVN	1st	4623c	9015c	0.510b	10.43c	41.97b	32386b	2411d	34.22b	4606c	0.47c	29.90b
	2nd	7475b	7004d	0.667a	11.26b	22.95d	27435c	2736d	40.46a	3768d	0.59c	35.98a
	3rd	1255d	6611d	0.503b	12.25b	49.13b	43149a	4146b	39.38a	6014a	1.53a	36.93a
	4th	917e	7233d	0.366d	18.32a	102.38b	31759b	3482c	46.07a	6462a	1.74a	39.34a
	5th	376e	11317a	0.410c	11.34b	125.27b	45613a	4743a	33.22b	4520c	1.43a	30.28b
Year 2
NVM	1st	4126d	10577a	0.278b	12.08a	131.60a	44799a	3378a	40.81a	4273a	0.88a	30.32ab
	2nd	5104c	6452bc	0.220b	8.43bc	84.96b	39984a	3167a	31.56b	3119bc	0.40b	28.20b
	3rd	6203b	6906b	0.307b	7.63c	79.44b	29902b	2779b	33.87b	3299b	0.33b	30.35ab
	4th	8815a	7038b	0.365a	9.06b	85.55b	24840b	2908a	38.81ab	2551c	0.46b	31.28ab
	5th	4351d	6838b	0.361a	9.17b	88.06b	24565b	2909a	38.59ab	2546c	0.47b	31.83ab
NVN	1	2374f	9220ab	0.243b	8.60bc	114.97a	25741b	2126c	41.76a	3604b	0.50b	31.25ab
	2	1743f	6991b	0.237b	9.77ab	105.72a	26784b	2396b	45.76a	3808b	0.57b	36.17a
	3	5576c	5059c	0.252b	7.49c	102.46a	29551b	2521b	35.56b	3228b	0.54b	26.99b
	4	5653c	6805b	0.351a	9.68ab	78.28b	15391c	2119c	45.14a	2949c	0.50b	37.21a
	5	3858e	6773bc	0.346a	9.63ab	75.70b	15389c	2099c	44.42a	2894c	0.53b	37.38a

Means within columns and cutting with the same letters are not significant at p < 0.05 levels.

Table 5. Total Nitrogen (N) concentration in plants for Native Vegetation without Manure (NVN) and Native vegetation with Manure (NVM) for the first and second year.

Treatments	Harvests	Total N-Year 1	Total N-Year 2
NVN	1st	1.68 cd	1.61 ab
	2nd	1.10 d	1.46 ab
	3rd	1.80 cd	1.40 ab
	4th	2.49 b	1.04 b
	5th	3.26 a	0.76 c
Annual mean		2.07	1.25
NVM	1st	1.83 cd	3.14 a
	2nd	1.23 d	2.29 b
	3rd	1.45 cd	1.51 cd
	4th	3.30 a	1.61 c
	5th	3.08 ab	0.94 d
Annual mean		2.18	1.90

Means within columns and cutting with the same letters are not significant at p < 0.05 levels.

Table 6. Soil pH, EC, and concentration of nutrients with (NVM) and without (NVN) poultry manure.

Year 1		mS/cm	mg kg^−1
Treatment	pH	EC	Ca	Cd	Cu	Fe	K	Mg	Mn	P	Pb	Zn
NVM	6.39a	0.08a	271 a	---	0.92a	162a	185a	37.3a	10.7a	117a	6.31a	1.46a
NVN	5.36b	0.06b	238a	---	0.83a	143a	139a	35.8a	9.5a	97a	4.87a	1.17a
Year 2
NVM	6.10a	0.085a	309a	---	1.28a	141a	209a	60.0a	10.5a	135a	5.66a	2.68a
NVN	5.62b	0.046b	258a	---	0.99a	137a	165a	43.9b	11.5a	116a	5.26a	2.06a

– = not detectable: Means within columns with the same letters are not significant at p < 0.05 levels.

Table 7. Soil pH, EC, and Nutrients as a function of soil depth in soils treated with and without poultry manure.

Year 1	cm		mS/cm	mg kg^−1
Treatment	Depth	pH	EC	Ca	Cd	Cu	Fe	K	Mg	Mn	P	Pb	Zn
NVM	0–15	5.51a	0.09a	307.07a	---	1.10a	152.20a	201.50a	43.80a	12.36a	134.65a	6.35a	1.81a
	15–30	5.27a	0.05a	234.27b	---	0.75a	172.15a	168.55a	30.84b	9.12b	99.62b	6.26a	1.13b
NVN	0–15	5.31a	0.05a	237.74b	---	0.80a	146.05b	144.22b	35.31b	9.94b	98.95b	5.00b	1.19b
	15–30	5.41a	0.03a	239.38b	---	0.85a	139.16b	134.49b	36.22b	9.06b	76.08c	4.73c	1.15b
Year 2
NVM	0–15	6.25a	0.09a	382.97a	---	1.50a	132.91b	238.64a	74.53a	13.21a	158.56a	5.54a	3.99a
	15–30	5.95a	0.08a	235.60c	---	1.07b	140.75a	180.43b	45.37b	7.81c	111.32b	5.79a	1.38c
NVN	0–15	5.59b	0.06a	306.69b	---	1.09b	144.04a	169.88b	51.19b	12.71a	128.74b	5.41a	2.57b
	15–30	5.64b	0.04a	209.27c	---	0.89b	137.75b	160.43b	36.61c	10.18b	104.36c	5.11a	1.55c

– = not detectable; Means within columns with the same letters are not significant at p < 0.05 levels.

Table 8. Nitrate and Ammonium concentrations in the manure and no-manure treated soils.

Treatments	NO3(mg/L)	NH4(mg/L)	pH	EC (mS/cm)
Year 1
NVM	2.11 a	6.72 a	6.23 a	0.085 a
NVN	1.39 a	5.26 a	6.12 a	0.095 a
Year 2
NVM	2.00 a	8.94 a	6.00 a	0.065 a
NVN	1.50 a	8.33 a	5.74 a	0.080 a

Means within columns with the same letters are not significant at p < 0.05 levels.

Figure 3. (a) Concentration of Nitrate in Water samples for fertilized and non-fertilized plots for Year 1. (b) Concentration of Ammonium in Water samples for fertilized and non-fertilized plots for Year 1.

Figure 4. (a) Concentration of Nitrate in Water samples for fertilized and non-fertilized plots for Year 2. (b) Concentration of Ammonium in Water samples for fertilized and non-fertilized plots for Year 2.

Figure 5. (a) Lysimeter samples for Monthly Nitrate Concentration for Year 1. (b) Lysimeter samples for Monthly Nitrate Concentration for Year 2.