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Biological attributes of rehabilitated soils contaminated with heavy metals

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Abstract

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.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank the Coordination of Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (Capes), the Minas Gerais Research Support Foundation (FAPEMIG), and the National Council of Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) for their financial support and fellowships granted to the authors.

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  1. Cláudio Roberto Fonsêca Sousa Soares

    Present address: Sector of Biology, Soil Microbiology Laboratory, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Parasitology, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Postal Box 476, Florianópolis, SC, 88040-900, Brazil

  2. José Oswaldo Siqueira

    Present address: Vale Technological Institute, Rua Boaventura da Silva, 955, Nazaré, Belem, PA, 60055-090, Brazil

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Agricultural Microbiology Postgraduate Program, Department of Biology, Federal University of Lavras, Postal Box 3037, CEP 37200-000, Lavras, MG, Brazil

    Jessé Valentim dos Santos & Maryeimy Varón-López

  2. Department of Soil Science—Sector of Biology, Microbiology and Biological Processes Laboratory, Federal University of Lavras, Postal Box 3037, CEP 37200-000, Lavras, MG, Brazil

    Cláudio Roberto Fonsêca Sousa Soares, Patrícia Lopes Leal, José Oswaldo Siqueira & Fatima Maria de Souza Moreira

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Valentim dos Santos, J., Varón-López, M., Fonsêca Sousa Soares, C. et al. Biological attributes of rehabilitated soils contaminated with heavy metals. Environ Sci Pollut Res 23, 6735–6748 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-5904-6

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