Comparison of cadmium accumulation in upright and leaning poplar trees

Abstract

Poplar 69 (Populus deltoides Bartr. cv. ‘Lux’ (I-69/55)) was chosen for a pot experiment to study the growth and the extraction of Cd from soil to various parts of the one-year-old trees growing in upright and artificial leaning (45°) patterns under different Cd stress. The results indicated considerable tolerance of both upright poplar (UP) and leaning poplar (LP) to Cd stress in the soil, though with significant inhibition from Cd application. LP demonstrated significantly lower height and basal diameter growth than UP. Cd concentrations in different parts of both UP and LP increased with the increase of Cd in the soil and it followed a general order as Bark > Leaf > Root > Stem. Different parts of poplar had average bio-concentration factor (BCF) ranges between 0.08 to 2.36, and average translocation factor (TF) between 0.67 to 7.92, indicating a big difference of phytoextraction ability among the parts, among the treatments, and between LP and UP. Average Cd concentration, BCF, and TF for each part of LP were higher than that of UP, but the difference was not significant. Significantly higher Cd concentration was found in the tension zone of stem wood than that in the opposite zone for LP.