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Cumulative effects of repeated chlorothalonil application on soil microbial activity and community in contrasting soils

  • Soils, Sec 2 • Global Change, Environ Risk Assess, Sustainable Land Use • Research Article
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Abstract

Purpose

Chlorothalonil (CTN) has received much attention due to its broad-spectrum antifungal function and repeated applications in agriculture production practice. An incubation experiment was conducted to study the accumulating effects of CTN repeated application on soil microbial activities, biomass, and community and to contrast the discrepancy of effects in contrasting soils.

Materials and methods

Different dosage CTN (5 mg kg−1, T1, and 25 mg kg−1, T5) was applied into two contrasting soils at 7-day intervals. Soil samples were taken 7 days after each application to assess soil enzyme activities and gene abundances. At the end of incubation, the soil samples were also taken to analyze microbial communities in the two test soils.

Results and discussion

Soil fluorescein diacetate hydrolysis (FDAH) and urease activities were inhibited by CTN repeated applications. After 28 days of incubation, bacterial 16S rRNA gene abundances in T1 and T5 treatments were significantly lower than those in the CK treatments (46.4 and 36.6 % of the CK treatment in acidic red soil, 53.6 and 37.9 % of the CK treatment in paddy soil). Archaeal 16S rRNA gene abundances of T1 and T5 treatments were observed the similar trends (56.1 and 40.8 % of the CK treatment in acidic red soil, 45.6 and 43.7 % of the CK treatment in paddy soil). Repeated applications at 25 mg kg−1 exerted significantly negative effects on the Shannon-Weaver, Simpson and McIntosh indices.

Conclusions

Microbial activity, biomass, and functional diversity were significantly inhibited by repeated CTN application at the higher dosage (25 mg kg−1), but the inhibitory effects by the application at the recommended dosage (5 mg kg−1) were erratic. More emphasis needs to be placed on the soil type and cumulative toxicity from repeated CTN application when assessing environmental risk.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Public Service Special Project of the Environmental Protection Ministry of China (No.201109018) and Aspheric Enterprise Developing Co., Ltd., Shanghai, China.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Soil Environment and Pollution Remediation, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, 210008, China

    Manyun Zhang, Ying Teng, Jun Wang, Peter Christie & Yongming Luo

  2. University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Manyun Zhang

  3. Environmental Futures Research Institute, School of Natural Sciences, Griffith University, Nathan, Brisbane, Queensland, 4111, Australia

    Manyun Zhang & Zhihong Xu

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  1. Manyun Zhang
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  2. Ying Teng
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  3. Zhihong Xu
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  4. Jun Wang
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  5. Peter Christie
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  6. Yongming Luo
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Correspondence to Ying Teng.

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Responsible editor: Hailong Wang

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Zhang, M., Teng, Y., Xu, Z. et al. Cumulative effects of repeated chlorothalonil application on soil microbial activity and community in contrasting soils. J Soils Sediments 16, 1754–1763 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-016-1404-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-016-1404-7

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