Effects of Co-Applications of Biochar and Solid Digestate on Enzyme Activities and Heavy Metals Bioavailability in Cd-Polluted Greenhouse Soil

Abstract

To deal with the problems of increasing the heavy metal (HM) bioavailability and declining the soil biological properties resulting from a direct application of solid digestate (SD). A low-temperature fruit biochar and pig-SD (BSD-0, BSD-1, BSD-2, BSD-4, BSD-8) co-application experiment was performed to evaluate enzyme activities and HM bioavailability in Cd-polluted greenhouse soil. The advantage of BSD co-applications compared to SD application was maintained the stable of pH and electrical conductivity (EC) in soil and was more effective to improve soil organic matter (OM). BSD-8 treatment significantly promoted the uptake of available nitrogen, available phosphorus, and available potassium by plants. The immobilization effect of BSD co-applications on Cu, Zn, and Cd was better than SD application. BSD-8 treatment has the best immobilization effect on Cd and the contents of bioavailable Cd was 0.167 mg kg−1. The optimal enzyme activities of invertase, urease, and alkaline phosphatase were shown in BSD-8 treatment, which were 0.027 mg glucose g−1 soil h−1, 88.654 mg NH3-N g−1 soil h−1, and 15.766 μmol PNP g−1 soil h−1, respectively. The activities of enzymes also were influenced by soil physicochemical properties and HM bioavailability. BSD-8 treatment was suggested as an appropriate mixing proportion to alleviate soil acidification and salinization, decreasing HM bioavailability and stimulating enzyme activities in Cd-polluted soil. Graphical abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.]