Seven inorganic amendment materials were added into arsenic (As) contaminated soil at a rate of 0.5% (w/w); the materials used were sepiolite, red mud, iron grit, phosphogypsum, ferrihydrite, iron phosphate, and layered double oxides (LDO). Plant growth trials using rape (edible rape, Brassia campestris L.) as a bio-indicator are commonly used to assess As bioavailability in soils. In this study, B. campestris was grown in a contaminated soil for 50 days. All of the inorganic amendments significantly inhibited the uptake of As by B. campestris. Following soil treatment with the seven aforementioned inorganic ammendments, the As concentrations in the edible parts of B. campestris were reduced by 28.6, 10.5, 8.7, 31.0, 47.4, 25.3, and 28.8%, respectively, as compared with the plants grown in control soil. The most effective amendment was ferrihydrite, which reduced As concentration in B. campestris from 1.84 to 0.97 mg kg–1, compared to control. Furthermore, ferrihydrite-treated soils had a remarkable decrease in both non-specifically sorbed As and available-As by 67 and 20%, respectively, comparing to control. Phosphogypsum was the most cost-effective amendment and it showed excellent performance in reducing the water soluble As in soils by 31% and inhibiting As uptake in B. campestris by 21% comparing to control. Additionally, obvious differences in As transfer rates were observed in the various amendments. The seven amendment materials used in this study all showed potential reduction of As bioavailability and influence on plant growth and other biological processes still need to be further explored in the long term.

Fungi capable of arsenic (As) accumulation and volatilization are hoped to tackle As-contaminated environment in the future. However, little data is available regarding their performances in field soils. In this study, the chlamydospores of Trichoderma asperellum SM-12F1 capable of As resistance, accumulation, and volatilization were inoculated into As-contaminated Chenzhou (CZ) and Shimen (SM) soils, and subsequently As volatilization and availability were assessed. The results indicated that T. asperellum SM-12F1 could reproduce well in As-contaminated soils. After cultivated for 42 days, the colony forming units (cfu) of T. asperellum SM-12F1 in CZ and SM soils reached 1010–1011 cfu g–1 fresh soil when inoculated at a rate of 5.0%. Inoculation with chlamydospores of T. asperellum SM-12F1 could significantly accelerate As volatilization from soils. The contents of volatilized As from CZ and SM soils after being inoculated with chlamydospores at a rate of 5.0% for 42 days were 2.0 and 0.6 μg kg–1, respectively, which were about 27.5 and 2.5 times higher than their corresponding controls of no inoculation (CZ, 0.1 μg kg–1; SM, 0.3 μg kg–1). Furthermore, the available As content in SM soils was decreased by 23.7%, and that in CZ soils increased by 3.3% compared with their corresponding controls. Further studies showed that soil pH values significantly decreased as a function of cultivation time or the inoculation level of chlamydospores. The pH values in CZ and SM soils after being inoculated with 5.0% of chlamydospores for 42 days were 6.04 and 6.02, respectively, which were lowered by 0.34 and 1.21 compared with their corresponding controls (CZ, 6.38; SM, 7.23). The changes in soil pH and As-binding fractions after inoculation might be responsible for the changes in As availability. These observations could shed light on the future remediation of As-contaminated soils using fungi.

Irrigated desert soil samples in the Hexi Corridor of China were collected over a period of 23 years from a site where different fertilization methods had been used. Changes of soil organic carbon (SOC) and its water stable aggregate (WSA) size fractions were studied. The effects of various fertilization methods on the distribution of added organic carbon (OC) in different WSA size fractions were also analyzed. The results showed that the applied fertilizations for 23 years improved SOC concentrations and OC concentrations in all WSA size fractions compared to the non-fertilized treatment (CK). In addition, fertilization obviously increased the OC stocks of <2 mm WSA size fractions compared to the CK. The average OC stock of <0.053 mm WSA fraction was 1.7, 1.6 and 3.2 times higher than those of >2 mm, 0.25-2 mm and 0.053-0.25 mm WSA fractions, respectively. A significant positive correlation was found between soil C gains and OC inputs (r=0.92, P<0.05), indicating that SOC may have not reached the saturation point yet at the site. The C sequestration rate was estimated by 14.02% at the site. The OC stocks in all of the <2 mm WSA fractions increased with the increase of OC input amounts; and the conversion rate of the input fresh OC to the OC stock of <0.053 mm WSA fraction was 1.2 and 2.6 times higher than those of the 0.25-2 mm and 0.053-0.25 mm WSA fractions, respectively. Therefore, the <0.053 mm WSA fraction was the most important component for soil C sequestration in the irrigated desert soil.