Abstract
A combined soil bacterial and fungal community survey was conducted for a copper tailings dam in the Chinese Loess Plateau. We investigated the seasonal differences in the composition and function of soil microbial community to examine the key environmental factors influencing soil microorganisms during restorative ecological processes. Significant seasonal differences were found in the community structure of both bacterial and fungal communities. Bacterial community abundance and fungal community (Shannon index) measurements were highest in summer. Soil nitrite nitrogen (NO2 −-N) was the dominant factor influencing both bacterial and fungal communities. The bacterial community composition was significantly affected by NO2 −-N and ammonium nitrogen (NH4 +-N) in spring, and fungal community structure was significantly affected by soil water content in autumn. Moreover, the fungal community exhibited significant functional feature differences among seasons, whereas bacterial community functional groups remained similar. This study aimed to clarify the adaptation response of microbes applying different approaches used in ecological restoration approaches specific to mining areas, and to identify the natural biofertility capacity of the microbial communities that colonize soil ecosystems.
Highlights
Microorganisms are important in the exchange of mass and energy among the atmosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere, and they play important roles in global ecological restoration, environmental variation and monitoring, pollution treatments, and biological conservation (Zhu et al, 2017)
The seasonal variation in the biomass and structure of soil microorganisms significantly differs among different ecosystems because the dominance of different environmental factors and the complexity of the comprehensive effects associated with various environmental factors vary among environments (Voříšková et al, 2014; López-Mondéjar et al, 2015)
We addressed the following questions: (1) How do soil bacterial and fungal communities vary with season changes? (2) What are the special functional bacterial and fungal in a copper tailings dam? (3) What are the dominant environmental factors that affect soil microbial structure and diversity over the course of a year? The aim of this study was to provide an ecological basis for the mechanisms of soil ecosystem restoration and degradation in different seasons, and to strengthen our understanding of soil property and microbial community biodiversity restoration in an environment subjected to pollution
Summary
Microorganisms are important in the exchange of mass and energy among the atmosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere, and they play important roles in global ecological restoration, environmental variation and monitoring, pollution treatments, and biological conservation (Zhu et al, 2017). Microorganisms are ubiquitous throughout all environments, and they are especially important in the restoration of degraded ecosystems in mining areas (Jia et al, 2019). Any change in the microbial communities of soil can lead to changes in various biochemical processes, affecting the stability of degraded ecosystems in mining areas, while playing a vital role in the efficiency of ecological restoration. The seasonal variation in the biomass and structure of soil microorganisms significantly differs among different ecosystems because the dominance of different environmental factors and the complexity of the comprehensive effects associated with various environmental factors vary among environments (Voříšková et al, 2014; López-Mondéjar et al, 2015)
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