Department of Microbiology, Institute of Soil Science and Plant Cultivation - State Research Institute, Czartoryskich 8, 24-100 Pulawy, Poland.
Department of Soil Science Erosion and Land Protection, Institute of Soil Science and Plant Cultivation - State Research Institute, Czartoryskich 8, 24-100 Pulawy, Poland.
Sci Total Environ. 2018 Sep 15;636:1048-1057. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.04.372. Epub 2018 May 3.
Smelter wastelands containing high amounts of zinc, lead, cadmium, and arsenic constitute a major problem worldwide. Serious hazards for human health and ecosystem functioning are related to a lack of vegetative cover, causing fugitive dust fluxes, runoff and leaching of metals, affecting post-industrial ecosystems, often in heavily populated areas. Previous studies demonstrated the short term effectiveness of assisted phytostabilisation of zinc and lead smelter slags, using biosolids and liming. However, a long term persistence of plant communities introduced for remediation and risk reduction has not been adequately evaluated. The work was aimed at characterising trace element solubility, plant and microbial communities of the top layer of the reclaimed zinc and lead smelter waste heaps in Piekary Slaskie, Poland, 20 years after the treatment and revegetation. The surface layer of the waste heaps treated with various rates of biosolids and the by-product lime was sampled for measuring chemical and biochemical parameters, which are indicative for metals bioavailability as well as for microorganisms activity. Microbial processes were characterised by enzyme activities, abundance of specific groups of microorganisms and identification of N fixing bacteria. Plant communities of the area were characterised by a percent coverage of the surface and by a composition of plant species and plant diversity. The study provides a strong evidence that the implemented remediation approach enables a sustainable functioning of the ecosystem established on the toxic waste heaps. Enzyme activities and the count of various groups of microorganisms were the highest in areas treated with both biosolids and lime, regardless their rates. A high plant species diversity and microbial activities are sustainable after almost two decades from the treatment, which is indicative of a strong resistance of the established ecosystem to a metal stress and a poor physical quality of the anthropogenic soil formed by the treatment.
冶炼厂荒地含有大量的锌、铅、镉和砷，这是一个全球性的重大问题。由于缺乏植被覆盖，导致扬尘、径流和金属浸出，从而对人类健康和生态系统功能造成严重危害，而这些问题往往发生在人口密集地区。先前的研究表明，使用生物污泥和石灰对锌和铅冶炼厂炉渣进行辅助植物稳定化在短期内是有效的。然而，引入修复和降低风险的植物群落的长期存在性尚未得到充分评估。本研究旨在描述波兰皮耶卡尔斯基冶炼厂废弃堆复垦 20 年后，痕量元素溶解度、植物和微生物群落的特征。在该废弃堆表面层，采用不同生物污泥和副产物石灰的处理方法进行采样，以测量化学和生物化学参数，这些参数是金属生物利用度以及微生物活性的指标。通过酶活性、特定微生物群体的丰度和固氮菌的鉴定来描述微生物过程。该地区的植物群落特征是表面覆盖度以及植物物种组成和多样性。研究结果表明，所采用的修复方法能够使建立在有毒废弃堆上的生态系统可持续运行。无论生物污泥和石灰的用量如何，其处理区的酶活性和各种微生物群体的计数都最高。在处理后近二十年，植物物种多样性和微生物活性仍然很高，这表明建立的生态系统对金属胁迫具有很强的抵抗力，以及由处理形成的人为土壤的物理质量较差。
