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Impact Imposed by Urbanization on Soil Heavy Metal Content of Lake Wetland and Evaluation of Ecological Risks in East Dongting Lake in China
Summary
This Chinese study measured heavy metal contamination in wetland soils of East Dongting Lake, finding elevated concentrations of several metals linked to nearby industrial and agricultural activities. Wetland contamination with heavy metals often co-occurs with microplastic pollution, and these combined stressors can have synergistic harmful effects on wetland ecosystems.
Abstract The urbanization is regarded as the major factor related to human activities that may interfere with the natural ecosystem. In this study, we have selected the wetland of East Dongting Lake as the research area. We have collected 180 soil samples (within the range of 0–20 cm, and 20cm-40cm), and we have measured the contents of their physicochemical properties (including salinity, pH value, soil particle composition, soil organic carbon, nitrate nitrogen and rapidly available phosphorus) as well as heavy metal elements (including As, Hg, Cd, Pb, Ni and Cr). We have adopted the methods of multivariate statistical analysis and inverse distance weighted (IDW) interpolation, so as to to reveal the sources and distribution characteristics of heavy metal content in soil in the research area. By adopting the potential ecological risk index (PERI) method proposed by Hakanson, we intend to assess the PERI values of heavy metals. Our research findings have shown that: (1) 8 sorts of heavy metals have shown positive correlation with each other. As, Hg and Zn have shown a significantly positive correlation with SOC (P < 0.01); As, Ni, Cr and Zn have shown a significantly positive correlation with AP (P < 0.01); As and Pb have shown a significantly positive correlation with Clay (P < 0.01); whereas Hg and Zn have shown a significantly negative correlation with Silt (P < 0.01); As and Pb have shown a significantly negative correlation with Sand (P < 0.01). (2) During urbanization, the elements of Cd, Ni, As, Hg and Pb might be enriched due to agricultural and industrial activities, whereas the use of fertilizers and pesticides constitute one of the major factors contributing to the increase of Cd and Pb contents in soil. (3) Influenced by the varying land patterns and with exception to Cu, the Fe-normalized concentrations have shown significant variations among different types of land use (P < 0.05). Specifically, there is a significantly higher level of Cd, Zn, Pb and Hg contents in the agricultural land than other types of land use, whereas there is a slightly higher level of heavy metal content in the mudflats than that in the grassland. In addition, the content of heavy metals in woodland remains relatively stable, and with exception to As, the content of heavy metals in woodland is the lowest among the five types of land. (4) The average value of the comprehensive PERI in heavy metals amounts to 555.03, representing a strong degree of ecological risks. Specifically, the proportion of sampling points of Cd that have a high level of ecological risks amounts to 36.51%, which is the primary element contributing to heavy metal pollution in the region, especially in the agricultural land.
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