Cultivation Ages Effect on Soil Physicochemical Properties and Heavy Metal Accumulation in Greenhouse Soils

The intensive management practices in greenhouse production may alter the soil physicochemical properties and contribute to the accumulation of heavy metals (HMs). To determine the HM concentrations in vegetable soil in relation to soil physicochemical properties and cultivation age, we conducted a soil survey for typical greenhouse soils in Shouguang, China. The results indicated that Cd is a major HM pollutant in the tested soils, as the only HM element exceeding the allowed limit for vegetable soil. The surveyed data was analyzed with regression analysis, correlation analysis and canonical correspondence analysis (CCA). A positive correlation is observed between HM pollution level and cultivation age. CCA results suggest that the HM pollution level and distribution in soil are significantly affected by soil physicochemical properties, which was a function of years of cultivation as revealed by regression analysis. In summary, cultivation age is an important factor to affect soil physicochemical properties (organic matter and inorganic nutrients) as well as HM contamination.