Objective The aims were to explore the distribution characteristics and differences of soil heavy metal in different land use types in Daye Lake Basin, in order to provide certain scientific basis and decision-making support for the prevention and control of copper (Cu) contamination in soils, the rational utilization and sustainable use of land resources.

Method The spatial distribution characteristics of Cu and its differences in soils with different land use types in Daye Lake Basin were analyzed using ordinary kriging interpolation and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA).

Result ① The Cu content of the measured land use types (except for the waters and water conservancy facility land) exceeded the soil background value of Hubei Province, and was the highest in public management and public service land, which was 16.74 times higher than the soil background value of Hubei Province. The Cu contents of seven land categories (e.g., arable land, orchard land, forest land, grassland, public management and public service land, waters and water conservancy facility land, and other land) exceeded the limit of Chinese soil's background value. Furthermore, the difference of Cu contents between public management and public service land and the other six land use types were significant (P<0.05). (2) The mean values of interpolated heavy metal Cu contents for each land use type did not exceed the threshold of China Soil Environmental Quality Standards, but they all exceeded the limit of Chinese soil’s background values. The Cu content of all the other 11 land use types (except for special land) exceeded the soil background values of Hubei Province and the whole world, other than that, commercial and services land and industrial and mining warehouse land were relatively higher than other land use types. Meanwhile, the difference of heavy metal Cu contents between special land and the other 10 land use types were significant (P < 0.05), but not for orchard land. Soil Cu content of orchard land differed significantly (P<0.05) from that of the other four land types (grassland, commercial and services land, industrial and mining warehouse land, and transportation land).

Conclusion The maximum values of soil Cu content were mainly located in the northern, central and southeastern area of Daye Lake Basin, and their values were 1146.45 mg kg⁻¹, 1822 mg kg⁻¹ and 1689 mg kg⁻¹, respectively. Heavy metal pollution in Daye Lake basin exhibits significant spatial differentiation which is mainly caused by industrial and mining activities.