Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi reduce cadmium leaching from polluted soils under simulated heavy rainfall

Cadmium (Cd)-polluted soils were collected from wasteland, farmland, and slopeland surrounding a lead–zinc mine in Yunnan Province, Southwest China. Maize plants (the host) were inoculated with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) in a dual-compartment cultivation system that included mycorrhizal and hyphal compartments as part of an AMF inoculation treatment and root and soil compartments as part of a the non-inoculation treatment. The effects of AMF on maize biomass and Cd uptake, soil aggregate composition, and Cd concentration in the interflow within two soil layers (0–20 and 20–40 cm) as well as the Cd leaching from these three Cd-polluted soils under simulated heavy rainfall (40 and 80 mm/h) were investigated. The results demonstrated that AMF led to increased maize biomass and Cd uptake. There were greater contents of total glomalin-related soil protein (T-GRSP) and >2.0 mm aggregates and lower Cd concentrations in the interflow and lower dissolved Cd leaching in the mycorrhizal and hyphal compartments than in the soil compartment. A two-way analysis of variance revealed that AMF significantly increased the contents of T-GRSP and >2.0 mm aggregates and reduced both Cd concentrations in the interflow and dissolved Cd leaching. Moreover, AMF interacted extensively with the roots and affected soil aggregate composition and Cd concentrations in the interflow. Under 40 mm/h of rainfall, the contents of T-GRSP and >2.0 mm aggregates were significantly negatively correlated with both Cd concentrations in the interflow and dissolved Cd leaching. In addition, the Cd concentrations in the interflow were significantly positively correlated with the amount of dissolved Cd leaching. Therefore, both AMF-reduced Cd concentrations in the interflow and Cd leaching from Cd-polluted soils were closely related to increased T-GRSP contents and macroaggregate proportion in the soils.