Abstract
Improvement of soil quality after land reclamation is a key concern in mining areas. However, the characteristics and internal mechanisms of variation of bacterial community structure over different reclamation periods are currently unclear. The recovery and evolution of soil microbial community structure are important indicators of the level of soil quality improvement of reclaimed soil. Therefore, this study investigated soil samples from coal gangue-filled land after reclamation periods of 1, 6, and 15 years. To accomplish this, 16S rRNA gene libraries were produced to determine the microbial community composition of the soils. In addition, various soil microbial community characteristics in the filled reclamation areas were compared with soil samples from areas unaffected by coal mining. The results showed the following: (1) The diversity and abundance of bacterial communities in reclaimed soils was slightly different from that of natural soils. However, the soil bacterial community structure was highly similar to natural soil after a 15-year reclamation period; therefore, the recovery of bacterial communities can be used as an indicator of the effects of rehabilitation. (2) Some soil physicochemical properties are significantly correlated with the main bacteria in the soil. (3) The dominant bacteria included members of the phyla Firmicutes and Proteobacteria, as well as members of the genera Bacillus, Enterococcus, and Lactococcus. Taken together, the results of this study indicated that the application of microbial remediation technology can be used to adjust the soil microbial community structure, improve soil quality, and shorten the soil recovery period.
Highlights
Soil is one of the most important but severely exploited natural resources [1]
The effects of various reclamation periods on diversity of soil bacterial community were investigated in a coal gangue-filled reclaimed land in a collapsed coal mining area in eastern China
After a 15-year reclamation period, the soil bacterial community structure was found to have a high similarity with natural soil
Summary
Soil is one of the most important but severely exploited natural resources [1]. Soil ecology in mining areas has been heavily disturbed by human activities. Mine soils are pedogenically young and often characterized by poor soil structure, a lack of distinctive soil horizons, and nutrient-deprived conditions; they are categorized as anthrosols [2,3]. Reclamation of land degraded by coal mining aims to revert the damaged ecosystem to a healthy state. This involves regeneration of mine soil fertility, improvement of soil characteristics, revegetation, enhancement of nutrient stock, and improved biomass productivity. Land reclamation and environmental restoration of mined areas are topics of great research interest [4,5]
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