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Microbial and Geochemical Assessment of Bauxitic Un-mined and Post-mined Chronosequence Soils from Mocho Mountains, Jamaica

  • Soil Microbiology
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Abstract

Microorganisms are very sensitive to environmental change and can be used to gauge anthropogenic impacts and even predict restoration success of degraded environments. Here, we report assessment of bauxite mining activities on soil biogeochemistry and microbial community structure using un-mined and three post-mined sites in Jamaica. The post-mined soils represent a chronosequence, undergoing restoration since 1987, 1997, and 2007. Soils were collected during dry and wet seasons and analyzed for pH, organic matter (OM), total carbon (TC), nitrogen (TN), and phosphorus. The microbial community structure was assessed through quantitative PCR and massively parallel bacterial ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene sequencing. Edaphic factors and microbial community composition were analyzed using multivariate statistical approaches and revealed a significant, negative impact of mining on soil that persisted even after greater than 20 years of restoration. Seasonal fluctuations contributed to variation in measured soil properties and community composition, but they were minor in comparison to long-term effects of mining. In both seasons, post-mined soils were higher in pH but OM, TC, and TN decreased. Bacterial rRNA gene analyses demonstrated a general decrease in diversity in post-mined soils and up to a 3-log decrease in rRNA gene abundance. Community composition analyses demonstrated that bacteria from the Proteobacteria (α, β, γ, δ), Acidobacteria, and Firmicutes were abundant in all soils. The abundance of Firmicutes was elevated in newer post-mined soils relative to the un-mined soil, and this contrasted a decrease, relative to un-mined soils, in proteobacterial and acidobacterial rRNA gene abundances. Our study indicates long-lasting impacts of mining activities to soil biogeochemical and microbial properties with impending loss in soil productivity.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Mr. John Gardner, Environmental Manager for Mining, ALCOA World Alumina Australia, for facilitating the funding to support this study. Support from the Department of Defense (DoD) grant # W911NF-10-1-0146 is also acknowledged. We also acknowledge the staff at Jamalco for logistics with sample collection, Maverick and Benjamin LeBlanc for their assistance in soil geochemical characterization, and the three anonymous reviewers for their very helpful critique.

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Author notes

  1. Dawn E. Lewis

    Present address: Center for Plasma Science and Technology, Florida A&M University, 2077 E. Paul Dirac Drive, Tallahassee, FL, 32310, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of the Environment, Florida A&M University, 1515, S. MLK Blvd., Suite 305B, FSHSRC Building, Tallahassee, FL, 32307, USA

    Dawn E. Lewis, Ashvini Chauhan, Denis Wafula & Charles Jagoe

  2. Wetland and Aquatic Biogeochemistry Laboratory, Department of Oceanography and Coastal Science, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, 70803, USA

    John R. White

  3. Department of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, Florida State University, 1060 Atomic Way, Tallahassee, FL, 32306, USA

    Will Overholt & Puja Jasrotia

  4. DNA Services Facility, University of Illinois at Chicago, 835 S. Wolcott Avenue, A310 MSB, Chicago, IL, 60612, USA

    Stefan J. Green

  5. NOAA Environmental Cooperative Science Center, Florida A&M University, Tallahassee, FL, 32307, USA

    Charles Jagoe

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Correspondence to Ashvini Chauhan.

Additional information

Dawn E. Lewis and Ashvini Chauhan contributed equally to this work.

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Fig. SI-1

Map of Jamaica showing locations of bauxite rich soils. Also depicted is pictorial representation of un-mined and post-mined rehabilitated sites from where samples for this study were obtained. (DOC 3873 kb)

Fig. S1-1I

Taxonomic affiliation of bacterial phyla/taxa identified by PCR-DGGE analyses along un-mined and three rehabilitated chronosequence soils collected from the Mocho Mountains of Jamaica. Shown are A, wet season microbiota; B, dry season microbiota and C, total percentage associated with each identified phyla/taxa regardless of seasons and soils. MUnm refers to Mocha Unmined; R07 to site rehabilitated in 2007; R97 to site rehabilitated in 1997; and R87 to site rehabilitated in 1987. (DOC 62 kb)

Fig. SI-III

Taxonomic affiliation of bacterial phyla/taxa identified by PCR-clone library analyses along un-mined and three rehabilitated chronosequence soils collected from the Mocho Mountains of Jamaica. Shown are A, wet season microbiota; B, dry season microbiota and C, total percentage associated with each identified phyla/taxa regardless of seasons and soils. MUnm refers to Mocha Unmined; R07 to site rehabilitated in 2007; R97 to site rehabilitated in 1997; and R87 to site rehabilitated in 1987. (DOC 130 kb)

Fig. SIV

Differences in the bacterial phyla/taxa identified from PCR-DGGE and PCR-Cloning analyses evaluated by principal coordinate analysis (PCA). Percentages represented in the axis labels are variation explained by the first two principal coordinates. (DOC 35 kb)

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Lewis, D.E., Chauhan, A., White, J.R. et al. Microbial and Geochemical Assessment of Bauxitic Un-mined and Post-mined Chronosequence Soils from Mocho Mountains, Jamaica. Microb Ecol 64, 738–749 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-012-0020-3

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