Phytoaccumulation of As by Pteris vittata supplied with phosphorus fertilizers under different soil moisture regimes – A field case.

• PV yields were increased with soil moisture irrespectively of P. • Positive correlations were found between pH of P-applied soils and As of PV. • P fertilizer with enhanced soil moisture effectively increased As uptake of PV. The ability of As-hyperaccumulator Pteris vittata (PV) to remove As from real As (75.2 mg/kg) contaminated farmland soils under two soil moisture treatments [water retention (WR) and non-water retention (NW)] and three types of P fertilizers (acidic, alkaline and weakly acidic P fertilizers, indicated by SSP, CaP and KP, respectively) under field condition over 5 months was investigated for the first time. The results showed that yields of PV were increased by water retention irrespectively of P treatments. The results revealed that the uptake of As by PV was significantly increased by CaP and KP treatments, the opposite was observed with SSP treatment. Under WR condition, the uptake of As by PV treated with CaP and KP treatments was further significantly increased compared with SSP treatment. This study suggested that the combination of P fertilizer with soil moisture control is a more promising approach to increase remediating efficiency of PV under the real field conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]