Processes and compartments in the coupled soil solute transport, water balance and plant uptake model.

<p>W: water content, GW: groundwater, C_GW: groundwater concentration, C_W: soil pore water concentration.</p

Estimated plant parameters (initial plant mass normalized to an area of 1 m²).

<p>Estimated plant parameters (initial plant mass normalized to an area of 1 m²).</p

Estimated soil-water partition coefficient <i>K_d</i> (Sauvé regression) vs. measured <i>K_d</i> (determined from CaCl₂ extractions).

<p>The dotted line indicates a ratio of one.</p

Amendment application (second half of September in each given year) and input of Cd and Pb with amendment for the different treatments.

<p>GWS: Co-compost of green waste and sewage sludge, BIOW: Biowaste compost, FYM: Farmyard manure and MSW: Municipal solid waste compost.</p

Simulated water balance and content of soil.

<p>(a) Simulated annual water balance, control scenario, August 1998 to October 1999; (b) simulated water content of the five soil layers, same simulation event.</p

Comparison of predicted and measured concentrations in plants (mg kg dw⁻¹) for the five treatments.

<p>October 1999 to July 2007. Model predictions are connected by lines for clearer comparison to measured values. Vertical lines denote the range of measured values and symbols the medians of the four replicates (values below QL were set equal to ½ QL (note that QLs from 1999–2005 were applied for all years). Top arrows recall the time of amendment application.</p

Leaching of water from soil layer 2.

<p>Model compared to measurement for CTR, MSW and GSW treatments. Model is average of all predictions, min and max is minimum and maximum lysimeter measurements, MSW(I) and CTR(II), respectively.</p

Overview of the field and simulation study.

<p>For wheat and barley the starting point of growth takes place after seeding.</p

Measured soil parameters (depth, dry density <i>ρ_S,dry</i>, field capacity, <i>FC,</i> and permanent wilting point, <i>PWP</i>) of the soil layers.

<p>Measured soil parameters (depth, dry density <i>ρ_S,dry</i>, field capacity, <i>FC,</i> and permanent wilting point, <i>PWP</i>) of the soil layers.</p

Calculated total mass of harvested plant parts (from results in dry weight, please see Text S2, Table S4).

<p>GWS: Co-compost of greenwaste and sewage sludge, BIOW: Biowaste compost, FYM: Farmyard manure and MSW: Municipal solid waste compost.</p