Dataset Information

Organic amendments potentially stabilize metals in smelter contaminated Arctic soils: An incubation study.

ABSTRACT: The long-term emission impacts of the nickel processing industry in the Kola Peninsula, the largest source of sulfur dioxide and heavy metals emissions in Northern Europe, have created vast technogenic barrens near the mineral industry complexes. The pace of rehabilitation using the improved remediation technologies to enhance sustainable environmental management and regional economic development is of crucial social and economic importance. In a 120-day incubation experiment, we evaluated the prospects for the restoration of two soils at different degradation stages via carbon pool regulation comparing to mineral ameliorants - NPK fertilizer, and liming agent. Organic additives used included a humic preparation based on an alkaline brown coal extract, wood-derived biochar, and peat-derived gel, supplied by mycorrhizae fungi. The results demonstrate that the selected organic amendments are suitable for restoration of acidic metal contaminated soils. Specifically, the treatments provided a measurable increase in soil carbon content, a marked decrease in acidity, a decrease in extractable metal contents, together with an enhanced nutrient uptake and vegetative growth. A stabilization effect increased from biochar to peat-gel, liming agent and humic preparation, with an accompanying increase in soil pH. Although biochar showed a reduced ability to metal stabilization, the associated treatments were the most productive. The most effective amendments in multi-metallic contaminated soils need to be able to stabilize bioavailability of metals, adjust pH to the optimum for plant growth, and regulate nutrient consumption.

SUBMITTER: Tregubova P

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7841320 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Organic amendments potentially stabilize metals in smelter contaminated Arctic soils: An incubation study.

Tregubova Polina P Koptsik Galina G Stepanov Andrey A Koptsik Sergey S Spiers Graeme G

Heliyon 20210124 1

The long-term emission impacts of the nickel processing industry in the Kola Peninsula, the largest source of sulfur dioxide and heavy metals emissions in Northern Europe, have created vast technogenic barrens near the mineral industry complexes. The pace of rehabilitation using the improved remediation technologies to enhance sustainable environmental management and regional economic development is of crucial social and economic importance. In a 120-day incubation experiment, we evaluated the p ...[more]

PMID: 33537481

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Project description:BackgroundAddition of organic amendments has been commonly adopted as a means to restore degraded soils globally. More recently, the use of woody organic amendments has been recognized as a viable method of capturing and retaining water and restoring degraded and desertified soil, especially in semi-arid regions. However, the impacts of woody amendments on soil microbial community structure, versus other traditional organic supplements is less understood.MethodsThree locally available natural organic materials of different qualities, i.e., cow manure (CM), corn straw (CS), and chipped poplar branches (PB) were selected as treatments in Ningxia, Northern China and compared with control soils. Four microcosms served as replicates for each treatment. All treatments contained desertified soil; treatments with amendments were mixed with 3% (w/w) of one of the above organic materials. After 7 and 15 months from the start of the experiment, soil samples were analyzed for chemical and physical properties, along with biological properties, which included microbial α-diversity, community structure, and relative abundance of microbial phyla.ResultsBoth bacterial and fungal α-diversity indices were weakly affected by amendments throughout the experimental period. All amendments yielded different microbial community compositions than the Control soils. The microbial community composition in the CS and PB treatments also were different from the CM treatment. After 15 months of the experiment, CS and PB exhibited similar microbial community composition, which was consistent with their similar soil physical and chemical properties. Moreover, CS and PB also appeared to exert similar effects on the abundance of some microbial taxa, and both of these treatments yield different abundances of microbial taxa than the CM treatment.ConclusionNew local organic amendment with PB tended to affect the microbial community in a similar way to the traditional local organic amendment with CS, but different from the most traditional local organic amendment with CM in Ningxia, Northern China. Moreover, the high C/N-sensitive, and lignin and cellulose decompose-related microbial phyla increased in CS and PB have benefits in decomposing those incorporated organic materials and improving soil properties. Therefore, we recommend that PB should also be considered as a viable soil organic amendment for future not in Ningxia, but also in other places.

Project description:Organic fertilizers have been shown to stimulate CH4 uptake from agricultural soils. Managing fertilizer application to maximize this effect and to minimize emission of other greenhouse gasses offers possibilities to increase sustainability of agriculture. To tackle this challenge, we incubated an agricultural soil with different organic amendments (compost, sewage sludge, digestate, cover crop residues mixture), either as single application or in a mixture and subjected it to different soil moisture concentrations using different amounts of organic amendments. GHG fluxes and in vitro CH4 oxidation rates were measured repeatedly, while changes in organic matter and abundance of GHG relevant microbial groups (nitrifiers, denitrifiers, methanotrophs, methanogens) were measured at the end of the incubation. Overall the dynamics of the analyzed GHGs differed significantly. While CO2 and N2O differed considerably between the treatments, CH4 fluxes remained stable. In contrast, in vitro CH4 oxidation showed a clear increase for all amendments over time. CO2 fluxes were mostly dependent on the amount of organic residue that was used, while N2O fluxes were affected more by soil moisture. Several combinations of amendments led to reductions of CO2, CH4, and/or N2O emissions compared to un-amended soil. Most optimal GHG balance was obtained by compost amendments, which resulted in a similar overall GHG balance as compared to the un-amended soil. However, compost is not very nutrient rich potentially leading to lower crop yield when applied as single fertilizer. Hence, the combination of compost with one of the more nutrient rich organic amendments (sewage sludge, digestate) provides a trade-off between maintaining crop yield and minimizing GHG emissions. Additionally, we could observe a strong increase in microbial communities involved in GHG consumption in all amendments, with the strongest increase associated with cover crop residue mixtures. Future research should focus on the interrelation of plants, soil, and microbes and their impact on the global warming potential in relation to applied organic amendments.

Dataset Information

Organic amendments potentially stabilize metals in smelter contaminated Arctic soils: An incubation study.

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Organic amendments potentially stabilize metals in smelter contaminated Arctic soils: An incubation study.

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