Vegetation type impacts microbial interaction with antimony contaminants in a mining-contaminated soil environment

Environmental Pollution
Xiaoxu SunWeimin Sun

Abstract

Antimony (Sb) contamination is a growing environmental concern due to the increasing use of this metalloid in mining and industrial activities. The remediation of Sb-contaminated soil is a lengthy and costly process. Phytoremediation has been suggested as a cost-effective method for the long-term management of Sb-contaminated sites. Various plant types have been found to thrive in contaminated sites and have the potential to remediate Sb contamination; however, their impacts on Sb speciation and the indigenous microbial community remain unclear. In the current study, soils from three types of vegetation environment (i.e., grass, forest, and agricultural) were collected from two Sb mining areas in Guizhou, China. Comparisons of geochemical and microbiological properties among the three vegetation types revealed that vegetation was a major driver of soil biogeochemical characteristics. Contaminant fractions (i.e., extractable fractions of Sb and As) had a greater influence on microbial communities in grass and forest soil, whereas pH had a greater impact in agricultural soil. This difference may indicate distinct microbe-environment interactions in agricultural soil affected by anthropogenic activity. The dominant taxa, including...Continue Reading

Citations

Oct 22, 2020·Journal of Hazardous Materials·Niloofar KarimianEdward D Burton
Apr 1, 2021·Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology·Yingping HePan Wu
May 12, 2021·The Science of the Total Environment·Jicheng XiaXinbin Feng

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