Research Article

Soil Metals and Ectomycorrhizal Fungi Associated with American Chestnut Hybrids as Reclamation Trees on Formerly Coal Mined Land

Table 4

Mean concentrations of metals in drip line soils (mean ppm) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) compared with reference soils that were collected on site (no chestnuts planted), average background metal concentration in Ohio soils (ppm) [41], averages in Muskingum County [42, 43], and US topsoil ranges [44]. Asterisks () indicate differences at 0.05.

Element analyzedDrip line
mean (ppm)
Drip line
95% CI
Site referenceCounty
ave (ppm)
Ohio soil
(ppm)
US topsoil
range (ppm)

Ag0.450.30, 0.74]0.24<10.250.01–5
Al11,1729,909, 13,261]9983.4NA7,68510,000–300,000
As10.628.68, 11.07]12.787.95.720.1–55
Cd0.210.13, 0.24]0.270.20.5070.1–1
Cu26.021.60, 32.25]23.3816122–50
Mn767.84644.5, 915.7]732.68459459600–6,000
Pb14.3712.70, 15.94]14.542816.222–44
Se3.552.05, 4.25]4.710.30.250.1–3.9
Zn75.0764.35, 92.0]66.186542.710–100