Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

• Hasan Salari ¹
• rayhaneh Amooaghaie ²
• Hossein Mozafari ³

¹ Department of Ecology, Institute of Science and High Technology and Environmental Sciences, Graduate University of Advanced Technology, Kerman, Iran

² Plant Science Department, Faculty of Science, Shahrekord University, Shahrekord, Iran

³ Institute of Science and High Technology and Environmental Sciences, Graduate University of Advanced Technology, Kerman, Iran

Abstract

Arsenic (As), is a very toxic metalloid that has detrimental effects on plant growth and causes health risks to humans. It has been suggested that the addition of organic amendments can reduce mobility of metal(loid)s in soil, and improve plant growth in contaminated soil. Therefore, in this study, the effect of applying two types of vermicompost (0, 2, 4 and 8% w/w) on growth of Carthamus tinctorius in As-spiked soils (0, 40 and 80 mg/kg) was investigated in two separate experiments. The results showed that increasing As level in soil, decreased emergence percentage, the content of chlorophyll a, b in the leaves and the dry weight of the plant and increased the mean time of emergence and electrolyte leakage levels in leaves. With increasing dose of vermicompost, emergence percentage, the content of chlorophyll a, b, plant dry weight increased with the use of vermicompost type 1 but decreased with applying vermicompost type 2 under both non-stress and As stress conditions. Vermicompost type 1 decreased available As in soil and As concentration in roots and aerial parts of safflower, but vermicompost type 2 increased these attributes. The comparison of the quality of these two types of vermicompost showed that the difference in the content of heavy metals especially As, pH, EC and CEC in these two types of fertilizers has affected the content of available As in the soil is reason that these two types of vermicompost have different effects on growth and arsenic accumulation in safflower.

Keywords

• Arsenic
• Chlorophyll
• Electrolyte leakage
• Emergence percentage

Main Subjects

• Physiology