Studies on Effect of Cd and Hg on Morphological Characteristics of Populus deltoides (W. Bartram ex. Marshall)

The present investigation entitled “Studies on Effect of Cd and Hg on Morphological Characteristics of Populus deltoides (W. Bartram ex. Marshall).” was carried out at the Research Farm of Department of Environmental Science, College of Forestry, Dr. Y. S. Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, Solan, Himachal Pradesh during 2014–2015. Seedlings of P. deltoides were grown with different graded doses of cadmium (Cd) and mercury (Hg) viz, 0, 5, 10 and 20 ppm in experimental pots in four replications in CRD. Cadmium had significant influence on all the morphological parameters, whereas, mercury significantly influenced seedling height, root dry weight and total dry biomass and had no significant impact on number of leaves, collar diameter and leaf area of P. deltoides. The interaction effect of the two metals was non-significant for all the morphological parameters, though the characteristics had decreasing trend with increasing concentration of graded doses in soil. Highest level of Cd and Hg (20 ppm) had lowest seedling height of 2.02 and 2.25 m and lowest number of leaves i.e. 57.19 and 53.25, respectively. Collar diameter decreased from 1.71–1.45 cm and 1.63–1.50 cm for Cd and Hg, respectively. Root dry weight and total dry biomass were significantly influenced by Cd and Hg which varied from 35.97–45.66 gm (Cd) and 39.03–45.69 gm (Hg) and 100.74–130.50 gm (Cd) and 106.50–123.98 gm (Hg), respectively.