Migration and enrichment patterns of vanadium in the soil and plant system of farmland

Vanadium (V) is an essential trace element required by organisms for maintaining their normal life activities. It is also a harmful element listed as a priority environmental pollutant by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The study of the migration and enrichment patterns of V in the soil and plant system is of great practical significance for further understanding the ecological geochemical behavior of V and ensuring the safety of agricultural products and human health. This study systematically sampled the soil and plants in some ordinary farmland in Linyi City, Shandong Province and analyzed and tested the contents of V and its associated elements in the soil and plant samples. Moreover, this study conducted the source analysis and pollution assessment of V and investigated the migration and transformation patterns of V in the soil-plant system using statistical methods such as descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and cluster analysis, as well as the single factor pollution index method, the potential ecological risk index method, and the biological enrichment coefficient method. The results are as follows: V is relatively concentrated in the study area, and its content increases with an increase in the Fe and Ti contents and decreases with an increase in the SiO₂, Na₂O, Sr, and CaO contents; The V in the study area mainly originates from the weathering of parent rocks, and the parts with a high V content is related to magnetite; As shown by the results of the single factor index method and the potential ecological risk index method, V is relatively clean in the soils of the study area, but attention should be paid to the pollution of the associated Cd; V is enriched primarily in the roots of plants, and plants' absorption capacity of V is generally negatively correlated with the contents of Cu, Pb, Zn, Ni, Co, Cd, and especially Cr in soils and is positively correlated with the As content in soils. This study enriches the ecological geochemical theory of V and provides a scientific basis for regional agricultural production, environmental quality assessment, and ecological pollution control.