Copper and other heavy metals in specialized crops and their effects on soil coenosis

The background of the project are claims of the EU regulation to generate reliable data considering the extent of copper contamination in soils of specialized crops in order to decide about copper restrictions in organic farming.

2522 single soil samples were collected on 85 vineyard and 13 hop areas with different management histories. Samples were taken from sites presently under cultivation, formerly cultivated, and sites without anthropogenic copper contamination as control, indicating natural background values. In addition to Aqua Regia extraction for determining total copper contents, available plant copper content was analyzed in NH~4~NO~3~ extraction. Soil parameters such as pH-value, C/N ratio, soil type etc. were also analyzed. The correlation between plant-available and total copper contents is not very high, probably due to the broad range of relevant values e.g. soil parameters or cultivation measurements. An ongoing biological survey about the present status of earthworm populations will give information about possible impairments of soil coenosis