Terrestrial Plants and Invertebrates

Attention was focused on inorganic arsenical pesticides after accumulations of arsenic in soils eventually became toxic to several agricultural crops, especially in former orchards and cotton fields. Once toxicity is observed, it persists for several years even if no additional arsenic treatment is made. Poor crop growth was associated with bioavailability of arsenic in soils. For example, alfalfa (Medicago sativa) and barley (Hordeum vulgare) grew poorly 

Air concentrations up to 3.9 xg As/m near gold mining operations were associated with adverse effects on vegetation higher concentrations of 19.0-69.0 xg As/m, near a coal-fired power plant in Czechoslovakia, produced measurable contamination in soils and vegetation in a 6-km radius. 

Soils amended with arsenic-contaminated plant tissues were not measurably affected in CO2 evolution and nitrification, suggesting that the effects of adding arsenic to soils do not influence the decomposition rate of plant tissues by soil microorganisms. The half-life of cacodylic acid is about 20 days in untreated soils and 31 days in arsenic-amended soils. Estimates of the half-time of inorganic arsenicals in soils are much longer, ranging from 6.5 years for arsenic trioxide to 16 years for lead arsenate. 

Data on arsenic effects to soil biota and insects are limited. In general, soil microorganisms are capable of tolerating and metabolizing relatively high concentrations of arsenic. This adaptation seems usually to be due to decreased permeability of the microorganism to arsenic. Tolerant soil microbiota can withstand concentrations up to 1600.0 mg/kg however, growth and metabolism were reduced in sensitive species at 375.0 mg As/kg and, at 150.0-160.0 mg As/kg, soils were devoid of earthworms and showed diminished quantities 

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Effects of zinc on representative terrestrial plants and invertebrates... 

Adverse effects of copper deficiency can be documented in terrestrial plants and invertebrates, poultry, small laboratory animals, livestock — especially ruminants — and humans. Data are scarce or missing on copper deficiency effects in aquatic plants and animals and in avian and mammalian wildlife. Copper deficiency in sheep, the most sensitive ruminant mammal, is associated with depressed growth, bone disorders, depigmentation of hair or wool, abnormal wool growth, fetal death and resorption, depressed estrous, heart failure, cardiovascular defects, gastrointestinal disturbances, swayback, pathologic lesions, and degeneration of the motor tracts of the spinal cord (NAS 1977). 

Table 3.4 Effects of Copper on Representative Terrestrial Plants and Invertebrates Organism, Copper Concentration or Dose,...

TERRESTRIAL PLANTS AND INVERTEBRATES Honey bee, Apis mellifera, Czechoslovakia, 1986-1987 Drones 77-89 DW 5... 

Table 9.5 (continued) Effects of Zinc on Representative Terrestrial Plants and Invertebrates... 

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