Toxicity of metals to soil organisms: Development of methods and models for assessing the bioavailability and toxicity of copper and cadmium

This project aims to increase the understanding of how soil characteristics such as pH, organic matter content, and soil solution characteristics influences on the bioavailability and toxicity of two metals - copper and cadmium - to selected soil organism s. The link between chemical speciation and the toxicity of these metals in soil will be investigated by combining information on their metal geo- and hydrochemistry (chemical measurements and speciation models) with experimental data on their toxicity to terrestrial plants, invertebrates and micro-organisms. Some experiments will be performed in both single-species and two-species (plant-earthworm) test systems, to see if metal bioavailability may be changed by the presence of other species.