Die Bodenkultur - Journal for Land Management, Food and Environment

M. Puschenreiter and O. Horak:

Influence of different soil parameters on the transfer factor soil to plant of Cd, Cu and Zn for wheat and rye

Summary

Wheat, rye and corresponding soil samples from 42 locations in Austria have been analyzed for their Cd, Cu and Zn content in order to determine the transfer factors from soil to plant and their relation to different soil and plant characteristics. The data of this field samples indicate, that in spite of the great variety of investigated soils there are some significant relationships between soil parameters and meta accumulation in plants. The transfer factors for Cd are mainly influenced by the organic matter content. In contrast to that, the Zn and Cu transfer factors show best correlations with both total concentration of element and clay content in soil. Further, the translocation of Cd is restricted to some extenr, and its transfer to grain is lower than to straw. However, the essential elements Zn and Cu are mainly transported to generative parts of plant, consequently the transfer factors soil to grain are higher than those for soil to straw. Additionally, the heavy metal translocation is influenced also by plant species and cultivar. There is little difference in the uptake of Cu and Zn for wheat and rye, but wheat accumulates more Cd than rye. Thus transfer factors are generally higher for wheat than for rye. Key words:  cadmium, copper, transfer factors, cereals, zinc.