The characteristics of element background values of plants and soils and their relationships in Alashan, Inner Mongolia

The characteristics of the background element values in plants and soils and their relationships in Alashan Desert, Inner Mongolia were studied. The results showed that the background values of nine elemnts (Zn, Cu, Ni, Pb, Cd, Co, Cr, V, Mn) in 53 plants were obviously different. The background values in different life forms of plants were arranged in Mn.Zn>V>Cu.Ni>Cr>OPb>Co>Cd. The nine element contents of the same species in different communities were evidently different. For the background values of the 9 elements in soils in that area, Mn was the highest, Zn and V were relatively low, while Cd was the lowest. The vertical distribution of 9 element contents in different soil types were that the down-layer or top-layer had higher element contents than the middle-layer. Soils contained heavy metals much higher than plants, with the difference of 2-20 times more. The absorption coefficient of Cd in plants was the highest and the Cr the lowest. The correlationship between the element contents and the organic matter contents in different soil types was different. Sandy soil had the highest organic matter contents, and only Zn had some significant correlation with the content of organic matters. Saline soils had the lowest organic matter contents, and six elements, Co, Cd, Ni,Mn,Cr,Zn, had significant correlation with the organic matter contents.