Abstract: A three-year field experiment was conducted to examine effect of earthworms and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus(AM) on phytoremediation of low-arsenic contaminated soils using maize.Results show that mycorrhizal infection was increased significantly by inoculation with AM or earthworms,and the effect of the inoculation of both was much higher than that of either AM or earthworm(P<0.05).The former increased shoot and root biomass of the maize,the content of As in well-crystallized orhydrous oxides of ferrum and aluminum significantly(P<0.05),and the activity of soil phosphatase(P<0.05),but greatly reduced the content of arsenic in the soil versus the control(P<0.05).Moreover,the As content was much lower in the treatment of inoculation of both than in the treatment of inoculation of either AM or earthworm(P<0.05).The findings suggest that inoculation of AM and earthworms simultaneously can significantly enhance the effect of maize phytoremedying As-contaminated soil.

Key words: arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, earthworm, maize, arsenic, soil remediation