Biological attributes of rehabilitated soils contaminated with heavy metals

Valentim dos Santos, Jessé; Varón-López, Maryeimy; Fonsêca Sousa Soares, Cláudio Roberto; Lopes Leal, Patrícia; Siqueira, J. O.; de Souza Moreira, Fatima Maria

Biological attributes of rehabilitated soils contaminated with heavy metals

2016

This study aimed to evaluate the effects of two rehabilitation systems in sites contaminated by Zn, Cu, Pb, and Cd on biological soil attributes [microbial biomass carbon (Cmic), basal and induced respiration, enzymatic activities, microorganism plate count, and bacterial and fungal community diversity and structure by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE)]. These systems (S₁ and S₂) consisted of excavation (trenching) and replacement of contaminated soil by uncontaminated soil in rows with Eucalyptus camaldulensis planting (S₁-R and S₂-R), free of understory vegetation (S₁-BR), or completely covered by Brachiaria decumbens (S₂-BR) in between rows. A contaminated, non-rehabilitated (NR) site and two contamination-free sites [Cerrado (C) and pasture (P)] were used as controls. Cmic, densities of bacteria and actinobacteria, and enzymatic activities (β-glucosidase, acid phosphatase, and urease) were significantly higher in the rehabilitated sites of system 2 (S₂-R and S₂-BR). However, even under high heavy metal contents (S₁-R), the rehabilitation with eucalyptus was also effective. DGGE analysis revealed similarity in the diversity and structure of bacteria and fungi communities between rehabilitated sites and C site (uncontaminated). Principal component analysis showed clustering of rehabilitated sites (S₂-R and S₂-BR) with contamination-free sites, and S₁-R was intermediate between the most and least contaminated sites, demonstrating that the soil replacement and revegetation improved the biological condition of the soil. The attributes that most explained these clustering were bacterial density, acid phosphatase, β-glucosidase, fungal and actinobacterial densities, Cmic, and induced respiration.

Показать больше [+]