Abstract
In agricultural lands, cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb) co-contamination poses a significant threat to soil health and crop safety. This study evaluates the ryegrass-maize intercropping system as a sustainable approach to mitigate these environmental challenges. A 120-day pot experiment was conducted, revealing that the intercropping system significantly reduced soil Cd and Pb, achieving residual levels below national risk thresholds. Maize grains were confirmed safe, while ryegrass acted as an efficient bioaccumulator. The system enhanced soil ecosystem services, evidenced by a significant increase in key soil enzyme activities and nutrient cycling indicators. Specifically, the intercropping system boosted the activities of catalase, alkaline protease, and urease, which are crucial for redox regulation and nitrogen cycling. Notably, the activity of alkaline protease, responsible for organic nitrogen decomposition, increased by approximately 18.5 times in the intercropping group. Furthermore, the system increased soil organic matter by 5.89%, a core indicator of soil fertility and carbon sequestration, a key supporting service. Habitat sustainability was substantiated through the analysis of microbial community structure and diversity. Although Cd-Pb contamination initially reduced microbial diversity, the intercropping system (C2) mitigated this decline more effectively than monoculture (C1). More importantly, the intercropping system enriched metal-tolerant and functionally critical microbial taxa, such as Actinobacteriota, whose relative abundance reached 43.99% in the C2 group after the experiment. Despite observed phosphorus depletion, which suggests the need for targeted fertilization, the findings support ryegrass-maize intercropping as a viable, nature-based solution for soil remediation. This scalable strategy not only addresses contamination but also supports sustainable land management, contributing to the resilience and restoration of degraded farmlands.
Abstract from the paper’s OpenAlex record; open copy licensed cc-by-nc-nd. Read at the source ↗
The text the model read, with the source record’s inline markup (italics, sub- and superscripts) rendered and its character entities decoded; quote offsets refer to the raw text.
Claims 12
Claim · model-written summary
Ryegrass-maize intercropping significantly reduced soil Cd and Pb in a pot experiment.
Zea maysNot reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“This study evaluates the ryegrass-maize intercropping system”
e1“the intercropping system significantly reduced soil Cd and Pb, achieving residual levels below national risk thresholds”
e2“A 120-day pot experiment was conducted”
Claim · model-written summary
Maize grains were confirmed safe for consumption.
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“This study evaluates the ryegrass-maize intercropping system”
e3“Maize grains were confirmed safe, while ryegrass acted as an efficient bioaccumulator”
Claim · model-written summary
Ryegrass acted as an efficient bioaccumulator in the intercropping system.
LoliumOrganisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“This study evaluates the ryegrass-maize intercropping system”
e3“Maize grains were confirmed safe, while ryegrass acted as an efficient bioaccumulator”
Claim · model-written summary
Intercropping significantly increased key soil enzyme activities.
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“This study evaluates the ryegrass-maize intercropping system”
e1“the intercropping system significantly reduced soil Cd and Pb, achieving residual levels below national risk thresholds”
e4“The system enhanced soil ecosystem services, evidenced by a significant increase in key soil enzyme activities”
Claim · model-written summary
Intercropping boosted the activities of catalase, alkaline protease and urease in soil.
- Treatment
- intercropping systeme5
- Outcome
- activities of catalase, alkaline protease, and ureasee5
- Direction
- boostede5
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“This study evaluates the ryegrass-maize intercropping system”
e5“Specifically, the intercropping system boosted the activities of catalase, alkaline protease, and urease”
Claim · model-written summary
Alkaline protease activity increased about 18.5 times under intercropping.
- Treatment
- intercropping groupe6
- Outcome
- activity of alkaline proteasee6
- Direction
- increasede6
- Value
- approximately 18.5 timese6
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“This study evaluates the ryegrass-maize intercropping system”
e6“the activity of alkaline protease, responsible for organic nitrogen decomposition, increased by approximately 18.5 times in the intercropping group”
Claim · model-written summary
Intercropping increased soil organic matter by 5.89%.
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“This study evaluates the ryegrass-maize intercropping system”
e1“the intercropping system significantly reduced soil Cd and Pb, achieving residual levels below national risk thresholds”
e7“the system increased soil organic matter by 5.89%”
Claim · model-written summary
Cd-Pb contamination initially reduced soil microbial diversity.
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“This study evaluates the ryegrass-maize intercropping system”
e5“Although Cd-Pb contamination initially reduced microbial diversity, the intercropping system (C2) mitigated this decline more effectively than monoculture (C1)”
Claim · model-written summary
Intercropping mitigated the decline in microbial diversity more effectively than monoculture.
- Treatment
- intercropping system (C2)e5
- Outcome
- microbial diversitye5
- Direction
- mitigatede5
- Comparator
- monoculture (C1)e5
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“This study evaluates the ryegrass-maize intercropping system”
e5“Although Cd-Pb contamination initially reduced microbial diversity, the intercropping system (C2) mitigated this decline more effectively than monoculture (C1)”
Claim · model-written summary
Intercropping enriched metal-tolerant and functionally critical microbial taxa, such as Actinobacteriota, whose relative abundance reached 43.99% in the C2 group.
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“This study evaluates the ryegrass-maize intercropping system”
e4“the intercropping system enriched metal-tolerant and functionally critical microbial taxa, such as Actinobacteriota, whose relative abundance reached 43.99% in the C2 group after the experiment”
Claim · model-written summary
Observed phosphorus depletion occurred in the Cd-Pb co-contaminated soil under intercropping.
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“This study evaluates the ryegrass-maize intercropping system”
e3“Despite observed phosphorus depletion”
Claim · model-written summary
Ryegrass-maize intercropping is a viable, nature-based solution for soil remediation.
- Outcome
- soil remediatione3
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“This study evaluates the ryegrass-maize intercropping system”
e3“the findings support ryegrass-maize intercropping as a viable, nature-based solution for soil remediation”
The same questions in other papers
cadmium atom · soil: biology · Zea mays (maize)Positive and negative results
4 papers in the same direction as this paper · 1 in the opposite direction
- positive
- negative
- negative
2 papers more in this group
See all 6 papers →intercropping · physiology: antioxidant enzymes · Zea mays (maize)Positive and negative results
5 papers in the same direction as this paper · 1 in the opposite direction
- negative
- positive
- positive
3 papers more in this group
See all 7 papers →intercropping · pest · Zea mays (maize)Positive and negative results
30 papers in the same direction as this paper · 7 in the opposite direction
- negative
- no effect
- no effect
34 papers more in this group
See all 38 papers →intercropping · soil: chemistry · Zea mays (maize)Positive and negative results
36 papers in the same direction as this paper · 3 in the opposite direction · 2 reporting no difference from an alternative
- negative
- no effect
- negative
38 papers more in this group
See all 42 papers →intercropping · nutrient: content · Zea mays (maize)Positive and negative results
121 papers in the same direction as this paper · 15 in the opposite direction · 4 reporting no difference from an alternative
- no effect
- negative
- negative
137 papers more in this group
See all 141 papers →intercropping · soil: biology · Zea mays (maize)Results agree
26 papers in the same direction as this paper
- positive
- positive
- positive
23 papers more in this group
See all 27 papers →Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.