Abstract
The activity of nitrification was studied in the period of 1992 – 1994 in two grassland plots from the surroundings of a municipal waste incinerator. The soil parameters were fully comparable in both plots and the soils differed in the level of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). The concentration of PCBs found in Klajdovka-control plot (KL): 4.4 ng gdry soil −1 can be regarded as a background value, while the polluted plot, Bílá Hora (BH), contained increased amount of PCBs: 14.0 ng gdry soil −1.
The following parameters of nitrifying activity were determined: field concentrations of Ninorg species, mineralization potentials, nitrifying activity during long-term laboratory incubations, and the potential activity of both ammonium and nitrite oxidizers in short-term incubations in soil slurries. Simultaneous application of all these methods appeared to be very suitable for reliable assessment of nitrifying activity in the field.
In the case of the polluted plot, the abnormal accumulation of nitrite was observed both in the field (e.g. in September 1992: BH-656.8 ng NO −inf2 -N gdry soil −1; KL-208.2 ng NO −inf2 -N gdry soil −1) and in the laboratory incubations. Furthermore, the capability of the polluted plot to nitrify higher amount of ammonium nitrogen appeared to be significantly reduced due to detrimental changes in the activity of nitrite-oxidizing community. In contrast to the nitrification, the mineralization potential did not differ between the plots throughout the sampling period.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Baath E 1989 Effects of heavy metals in soil on microbial processes and populations, a review. Water Air Soil Pollut. 47, 335–379.
Belser L W 1979 Population ecology of nitrifying bacteria. Ann. Rev. Microbiol. 33, 309–333.
Belser L W and Mays E L 1982 Use of nitrifier activity measurements to estimate the efficiency of viable nitrifier counts in soils and sediments. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 43, 945–948.
Berg P 1986 Nitrifier populations and nitrification rates in agricultural soil. Dissertation. Report 34. Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden.
Berg P and Rosswall T 1985 Ammonium oxidizer numbers, potential and actual oxidation rates in two Swedish arable soils. Biol. Fertil. Soils. 1, 131–140.
Blakemore R P and Carey A E 1978 Effects of polychlorinated biphenyls on growth and respiration of heterotrophic marine bacteria. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 35, 323–328.
Boon B and Laudelout H 1962 Kinetics of nitrite oxidation by Nitrobacter winoogradski. Biochem. J. 85, 440–447.
Bock E, Koops H P and Harms H 1986 Cell biology of nitrifying bacteria. In Nitrification. Ed. J IProsser. pp 17–39. IRL Press, Oxford, UK.
Both G J, Gerards S and Laanbroek H J 1992 Temporal and spatial variation in the nitrite-oxidizing bacterial community of a grassland soil. FEMS Microbiol. Ecol. 101, 99–112.
Bourquin A L W and Cassidy S 1975 Effect of polychlorinated biphenyl formulations on the growth of estuerine bacteria. Appl. Microbiol. 29, 125–127.
Bramley R G V and White R E 1990 The variability of nitrifying activity in field soils. Plant and Soil 126, 203–208.
Bremner J M 1965 Inorganic forms of nitrogen. In Methods of Soil Analysis, Part 2. Ed. C ABlack. pp 1179–1237. Am. Soc. Agron. Madison, WI, USA.
Doelman P 1986 Resistance of soil microbial communities to heavy metals. In Microbial Communities in Soils. Eds. VJensen, A Kjöhler and L HSörensen. pp 369–384. Elsevier Publishers, London, UK.
Donaldson J M and Henderson G S 1990 Nitrification potential of secondary-succession upland oak forests: I. Mineralization and nitrification during laboratory incubations. Soil. Sci. Soc. Am. J. 54, 892–897.
Dušek L 1994 Microbial biomass and nitrification in polluted soils. Dissertation, Department of Environmental Studies, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Brno.
Fisher N S and Wurster C F 1973 Individual and combined effects of temperature and polychlorinated biphenyls on the growth of three species of phytoplankton. Environ. Pollut. 5, 205–212.
Flowers T H and O'Callaghan J R 1983 Nitrification in soils incubated with pig slurry or ammonium sulphate. Soil. Biol. Biochem. 15, 337–342.
Holoubek I, Časlavský J, Vančura R, Dušek L and Kohoutek J 1994 Project TOCOEN — The fate of selected organic polutants in the environment. Part XXII. PAHs, PCBs, PCDDs/Fs in soil from surroundings of Brno municipal waste incinerator. Toxicol. Environ. Chem. 43, 217–228.
Karmarkar S V and Tabatabai M A 1991 Effects of biotechnology byproducts and organic acids on nitrification in soils. Biol. Fertil. Soils. 12, 165–169.
Laanbroek H J and Gerards S 1991 Effects of organic manure on nitrification in arable soils. Biol. Fertil. Soils 12, 147–153.
Liang C N and Tabatabai M A 1978 Effects of trace elements on nitrification in soils. J. Environ. Qual. 7, 291–293.
Molina J A E, Gerard G and Mignolet R 1979 Asynchronous activity of ammonium oxidizer clusters in soil. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 43, 728–731.
Morrill L G and Dawson J E 1967 Patterns observed for oxidation of ammonium to nitrate by soil organisms. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. Proc. 31, 757–760.
Peakall D B 1972 Polychlorinated biphenyls: Occurrence and biological effects. Residue Rev. 44, 1–23.
Ray R C 1983 Toxicity of the pesticides hexachlorocyclohexane and benomyl to nitrifying bacteria in flooded autoclaved soil and in culture media. Environ. Pollut. 32, 147–155.
Rice E L and Pancholy S K 1973 Inhibition of nitrification by climax ecosystems: II. Additional evidence and possible role of tannins. Am. J. Bot. 60, 691–702.
Schmidt E L and Belser L W 1982 Nitrifying bacteria. In Methods of Soil Analysis, 2nd edn. Eds. R HMiller and D RKeeney. pp 1027–1042. Am. Soc. Agron., Madison, WI, (USA).
Sklarew D S and Girvin D C 1987 Attenuation of polychlorinated biphenyls in soils. Rev. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 98, 1–41.
Verkleij J A C 1994 Effects of heavy metals, organic substances, and pesticides on plants. In Ecotoxicology of Soil Organisms. Eds. M HDonker, HEijsackers and FHeimbach. pp 139–163. CRC Press, London, UK.
Wetselaar R, Passioura J B and Singh B R 1972 Consequences of banding nitrogen fertilizers in soil. 1. Effects on nitrification. Plant and Soil 36, 159–175.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Dušek, L. Activity of nitrifying populations in grassland soil polluted by polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Plant Soil 176, 273–282 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00011791
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00011791