The responses of soil bacterial communities and enzyme activities to the edaphic properties of coal mining areas in Central China

• Published in: PloS one 2020-04, Vol.15 (4), p.e0231198
• Main Authors: Sun, Jinhua, Yang, Liu, Wei, Jie, Quan, Jine, Yang, Xitian
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Alkaline phosphatase; Alkaline soils; Analysis; Bacteria; Biology and Life Sciences; Catalase; Coal; Coal industry; Coal mines; Coal mining; Community structure; Correlation analysis; Decomposition; Dominant species; Ecology and Environmental Sciences; Engineering and Technology; Environmental impact; Environmental management; Enzymatic activity; Enzymes; Geological hazards; Groundwater; Hydrolases; Invertase; Land subsidence; Liu Yang; Mining industry; Nutrients in soil; Organic matter; Organic matter in soil; Organic phosphorus; pH effects; Phosphatase; Phosphatases; Phosphorus; Physical Sciences; Physicochemical properties; Physiochemistry; Pseudomonas; Research and Analysis Methods; Soil acidity; Soil chemistry; Soil erosion; Soil microbiology; Soil microorganisms; Soil nutrients; Soil organic matter; Soil pH; Soil properties; Soil structure; Soils; Subsidence; Topsoil; Urease
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0231198

Soil physicochemical properties, bacterial communities and enzyme activities change with land subsidence resulting from coal mining. However, research on the responses of bacterial communities and enzyme activities to the soil properties in different degree of subsidence areas is limited. As such, we collected soil samples from a control area (C area), a moderate mining subsidence area (M area) and a severe mining subsidence area (S area) in Central China. Soil properties, such as the pH, total nitrogen (TN) content, total phosphorus (TP) content, available phosphorus (AP) content, organic matter (OM) content, and soil enzyme (urease, invertase, catalase and alkaline phosphatase) activities were measured in each sampling area at depths of 0-20 cm, 20-40 cm, and 40-60 cm. The results indicated that the soil physiochemical properties, soil urease activity, soil alkaline phosphatase activity and soil bacterial richness and diversity in the topsoil (0-20 cm) of the mining subsidence area were significantly lower than those in the C area. However, the soil enzyme activities within the deepest layer of the subsidence area were significantly greater than those of the C area. The bacterial communities within the depth of 0-20 cm were dominated by RB41, Pseudomonas, MND1, Nitrospira, Trichococcus, Sphingomonas and Dongia, whereas RB41 and Pseudomonas were the dominant species in the C area and subsidence area, respectively. Using correlation analysis, we found that the soil pH value, soil AP content and activities of the four enzymes were the main factors affecting the soil bacterial community structure. In addition, the soil nutrient contents, enzyme activities and bacterial richness and evenness decreased with increasing subsidence degree (classified by geological hazards, groundwater and landscape damage degree of coal mining subsidence). These results provide a reliable basis for environmental management of mining areas.