Department of Soil Science, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University in Bratislava, Mlynská dolina, Ilkovičova 6, 84215 Bratislava, Slovakia.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Mar 21;18(6):3240. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18063240.
Tailings-derived soils formed from waste materials produced during mineral processing often exhibit extremes of pH, low content of organic matter and limited nutrient availability. The success of site revitalization depends mostly on the ability to maintain natural soil functions. We analyzed technogenic sediments from four selected localities in Slovakia defined as environmental burdens: Slovinky (SLS, SLD), Markušovce (MAS, MAD), Lintich (LIS, LID), Horná Ves (HVS, HVD) in the presented research. None of these sites has long been used for its original purpose. In all localities, the concentrations of several risk elements (As, Ba, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn) still significantly exceed the statutory limit values. Besides the content of risk elements, the amounts of organic carbon, total nitrogen, pH value and moisture level in technogenic substrates were determined. We evaluated selected microbiological parameters, including microbial biomass carbon (MBC), microbial respiration and cellulolytic activity to determine how soil organisms tolerate long-term pollution. In general, the values of microbiological parameters were not as low as one would expect. The results confirmed a negative correlation between MBC content and concentrations of several toxic metals (Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, Zn). The values of assessed microbial indicators were in several cases comparable to those in natural soils. We noticed the lowest metabolic quotient values (qCO) in the heavily polluted locality HVS. The microbial quotient (qMic) was low in every locality except HVS, where the substrate availability index (SAI) was highest. The soil microbial community properties have shown that, despite adverse conditions, these emerging soils allow the growth and development of microorganisms to such an extent that they can adequately use available (although limited) nutrients. The data obtained suggest that these severely impacted soil ecosystems can restore their original environmental functions in time.
本文分析了来自斯洛伐克四个特定地点的工程沉积物，这些地点被定义为环境负担：斯洛温基（SLS、SLD）、马库什采夫采（MAS、MAD）、林季奇（LIS、LID）和霍纳韦斯（HVS、HVD）。这些地点都没有长期用于其原始目的。在所有地点，几种风险元素（砷、钡、镉、钴、铬、铜、镍、铅、锌）的浓度仍然明显超过法定限值。除了风险元素的含量外，工程学基质中的有机碳、总氮、pH 值和水分含量也被确定。我们评估了选定的微生物参数，包括微生物生物量碳（MBC）、微生物呼吸和纤维素酶活性，以确定土壤生物如何耐受长期污染。总的来说，微生物参数的值并不像人们预期的那么低。结果证实了微生物生物量碳（MBC）含量与几种有毒金属（钴、铬、铜、镍、锌）浓度之间存在负相关。评估微生物指标的值在某些情况下与天然土壤相当。我们注意到污染最严重的 HVS 地区的代谢商值（qCO）最低。除了 HVS 之外，每个地点的微生物商（qMic）都很低，而 HVS 的基质可用性指数（SAI）最高。土壤微生物群落特性表明，尽管条件不利，但这些新兴土壤允许微生物生长和发育到足以充分利用可用（尽管有限）养分的程度。获得的数据表明，这些受到严重影响的土壤生态系统可以及时恢复其原始环境功能。
