Heavy metal pollution in farmland soils surrounding mining areas in China and the response of soil microbial communities
Mining activities lead to significant heavy metal pollution in nearby farmland soils, affecting the soil's microbial community and functions. To comprehensively investigate the heavy metal contamination in farmland soils caused by mining activities and the impacts on soil microbial communities...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2024-12-01
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| Series: | Soil Security |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667006224000479 |
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| author | Ping Wen Shi-wei Feng Jie-Liang Liang Pu Jia Bin Liao Wen-sheng Shu Jin-tian Li Xinzhu Yi |
| author_facet | Ping Wen Shi-wei Feng Jie-Liang Liang Pu Jia Bin Liao Wen-sheng Shu Jin-tian Li Xinzhu Yi |
| author_sort | Ping Wen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Mining activities lead to significant heavy metal pollution in nearby farmland soils, affecting the soil's microbial community and functions. To comprehensively investigate the heavy metal contamination in farmland soils caused by mining activities and the impacts on soil microbial communities and functions, we collected 87 soil samples from farmlands near 29 mining sites nationwide, measured levels of cadmium, lead, copper, and zinc. Our findings revealed that 75.8% of the sampled farmlands exhibited varying degrees of heavy metal pollution. Cadmium contamination stood out, being 2.84 to 5.35 times higher compared to other metals. This pollution notably decreased microbial diversity in agricultural soils (P ≤ 0.04), causing a shift from intricate interconnected microbial co-occurrence modules to a higher number of simpler ones, indicating a fragmentation of the microbial interaction network. Additionally, heavy metal contamination led to a 10.9% increase in the importance of the heterogeneous selection process in community assembly. Despite reduced microbial alpha diversity, we observed an increase in the diversity and abundance of metal resistance genes (MRGs) and intensified microbe-MRG interaction. This suggests that microbial communities, even when altered, maintain functionality through enhanced redundancy, which probably facilitates the preservation of microbial activities. We also identified key taxa with intense connectivity in the microbial interaction networks, 58% of which have been recognized in previous studies for their predictive effects on soil health. These findings offer important insights for developing strategies to enhance soil health, such as promoting the presence of ''super-connectors'' in microbial networks for the maintenance of microbial community. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-87c3909ce4e74b15a8706e818e90fb2d |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2667-0062 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-12-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Soil Security |
| spelling | doaj-art-87c3909ce4e74b15a8706e818e90fb2d2024-12-12T05:23:54ZengElsevierSoil Security2667-00622024-12-0117100173Heavy metal pollution in farmland soils surrounding mining areas in China and the response of soil microbial communitiesPing Wen0Shi-wei Feng1Jie-Liang Liang2Pu Jia3Bin Liao4Wen-sheng Shu5Jin-tian Li6Xinzhu Yi7Institute of Ecological Science, Guangzhou Key Laboratory of Subtropical Biodiversity and Biomonitoring, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Biotechnology for Plant Development, School of Life Sciences, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, PR ChinaInstitute of Ecological Science, Guangzhou Key Laboratory of Subtropical Biodiversity and Biomonitoring, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Biotechnology for Plant Development, School of Life Sciences, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, PR ChinaInstitute of Ecological Science, Guangzhou Key Laboratory of Subtropical Biodiversity and Biomonitoring, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Biotechnology for Plant Development, School of Life Sciences, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, PR ChinaInstitute of Ecological Science, Guangzhou Key Laboratory of Subtropical Biodiversity and Biomonitoring, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Biotechnology for Plant Development, School of Life Sciences, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, PR ChinaSchool of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, PR ChinaInstitute of Ecological Science, Guangzhou Key Laboratory of Subtropical Biodiversity and Biomonitoring, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Biotechnology for Plant Development, School of Life Sciences, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, PR ChinaInstitute of Ecological Science, Guangzhou Key Laboratory of Subtropical Biodiversity and Biomonitoring, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Biotechnology for Plant Development, School of Life Sciences, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, PR ChinaInstitute of Ecological Science, Guangzhou Key Laboratory of Subtropical Biodiversity and Biomonitoring, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Biotechnology for Plant Development, School of Life Sciences, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, PR China; Corresponding author.Mining activities lead to significant heavy metal pollution in nearby farmland soils, affecting the soil's microbial community and functions. To comprehensively investigate the heavy metal contamination in farmland soils caused by mining activities and the impacts on soil microbial communities and functions, we collected 87 soil samples from farmlands near 29 mining sites nationwide, measured levels of cadmium, lead, copper, and zinc. Our findings revealed that 75.8% of the sampled farmlands exhibited varying degrees of heavy metal pollution. Cadmium contamination stood out, being 2.84 to 5.35 times higher compared to other metals. This pollution notably decreased microbial diversity in agricultural soils (P ≤ 0.04), causing a shift from intricate interconnected microbial co-occurrence modules to a higher number of simpler ones, indicating a fragmentation of the microbial interaction network. Additionally, heavy metal contamination led to a 10.9% increase in the importance of the heterogeneous selection process in community assembly. Despite reduced microbial alpha diversity, we observed an increase in the diversity and abundance of metal resistance genes (MRGs) and intensified microbe-MRG interaction. This suggests that microbial communities, even when altered, maintain functionality through enhanced redundancy, which probably facilitates the preservation of microbial activities. We also identified key taxa with intense connectivity in the microbial interaction networks, 58% of which have been recognized in previous studies for their predictive effects on soil health. These findings offer important insights for developing strategies to enhance soil health, such as promoting the presence of ''super-connectors'' in microbial networks for the maintenance of microbial community.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667006224000479Heavy metal pollutionMining-adjacent farmlandsMicrobial communityMetal resistance genes |
| spellingShingle | Ping Wen Shi-wei Feng Jie-Liang Liang Pu Jia Bin Liao Wen-sheng Shu Jin-tian Li Xinzhu Yi Heavy metal pollution in farmland soils surrounding mining areas in China and the response of soil microbial communities Soil Security Heavy metal pollution Mining-adjacent farmlands Microbial community Metal resistance genes |
| title | Heavy metal pollution in farmland soils surrounding mining areas in China and the response of soil microbial communities |
| title_full | Heavy metal pollution in farmland soils surrounding mining areas in China and the response of soil microbial communities |
| title_fullStr | Heavy metal pollution in farmland soils surrounding mining areas in China and the response of soil microbial communities |
| title_full_unstemmed | Heavy metal pollution in farmland soils surrounding mining areas in China and the response of soil microbial communities |
| title_short | Heavy metal pollution in farmland soils surrounding mining areas in China and the response of soil microbial communities |
| title_sort | heavy metal pollution in farmland soils surrounding mining areas in china and the response of soil microbial communities |
| topic | Heavy metal pollution Mining-adjacent farmlands Microbial community Metal resistance genes |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667006224000479 |
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