Effects of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi on the growth and heavy metal accumulation of bermudagrass [Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers.] grown in a lead–zinc mine wasteland

Abstract

A pot experiment was conducted to investigate the potential influence of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), Funneliformis mosseae and Diversispora spurcum, on the growth and nutrient (P and S) and heavy metal (HMs) (Pb, Zn, and Cd) content of bermudagrass [Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers.] in a lead-zinc mine wasteland. The D. spurcum inoculation significantly increased the bermudagrass growth, whereas the F. mosseae inoculation did not. The AMF inoculation significantly increased the soil pH and uptake of P, S, and HMs by bermudagrass, decreased the contents of available Pb and Zn in soils and Pb in shoots, reduced the translocation factor (TF) and translocation capacity factor (TF') of Pb and Cd in bermudagrass and increased the TF and TF' of Zn in bermudagrass. A significant negative correlation was found between pH and available HMs in soil, whereas a significant positive correlation was noted between the HMs content and nutrient content in bermudagrass shoots. Experiment results provide evidence of the potential role of AMF in improving bermudagrass performance for the vegetation restoration of metalliferous mine wastelands.

Keywords:

• Symbiont
• bermudagrass
• growth
• mine wasteland
• vegetation restoration

Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge Doctor Yunsheng Xia (College of Resources and Environment, Yunnan Agricultural University) for his help in the experiment and data summary.

Additional information

Funding

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41661056), the Natural Science Foundation of Yunnan Province (2016FB032), the Key Research and Development Program of Yunnan Province (2018BB017), the Reserve Talents Fund for Young and Middle-Aged Academic and Technological leaders in Yunnan Province (2018HB043), and the Science and Technology Innovation Team of Yunnan Province (2017HC015).