Effects of different regeneration scenarios and fertilizer treatments on soil microbial ecology in reclaimed opencast mining areas on the Loess Plateau, China

PLoS One. 2013 May 2;8(5):e63275. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0063275. Print 2013.

Abstract

The soil microbial community in reclaimed mining areas is fundamental to vegetative establishment. However, how this community responds to different regeneration scenarios and fertilizer treatments is poorly understood. This research evaluated plant and soil microbial communities from different regeneration scenarios and different fertilizer treatments. Regeneration scenarios significantly influenced soil bacterial, archaeal, and fungal rDNA abundance. The ratios of fungi to bacteria or archaea were increased with fertilizer application. The diversity of both plants and microbes was lowest in Lotus corniculatus grasslands. Regeneration scenario, fertilizer treatment, and their interaction influenced soil microbial richness, diversity and evenness indices. Labile carbon pool 2 was a significant factor affected plant and microbe communities in July, suggesting that plants and microbes may be competing for nutrients. The higher ratios of positive to negative association were found in soil bacteria and total microbe than in archaea and fungi. Stronger clustering of microbial communities from the same regeneration scenario indicated that the vegetative composition of regeneration site may have a greater influence on soil microbial communities than fertilizer treatment.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Biodiversity
  • China
  • Ecological and Environmental Phenomena*
  • Fertilizers*
  • Mining*
  • Plants / classification
  • Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length
  • Soil / chemistry
  • Soil Microbiology*

Substances

  • Fertilizers
  • Soil

Grants and funding

This work was financially supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China (41271530) and the National Science and Technology Program (2012BAC10B04 and 2008BAD95B04). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.