The response of soil microbial diversity and abundance to long-term application of biosolids
The disposal of biosolids poses a major environmental and economic problem. Agricultural use is generally regarded as the best means of disposal. However, its impact on soil ecosystems remains uncertain. Biosolids can improve soil properties by supplying nutrients and increasing organic matter conte...
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| Format: | Article |
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Elsevier
2017
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/41515/ |
| _version_ | 1848796292288872448 |
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| author | Mossa, Abdul-Wahab Dickinson, Matthew J. West, Helen M. Young, Scott D. Crout, Neil M.J. |
| author_facet | Mossa, Abdul-Wahab Dickinson, Matthew J. West, Helen M. Young, Scott D. Crout, Neil M.J. |
| author_sort | Mossa, Abdul-Wahab |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | The disposal of biosolids poses a major environmental and economic problem. Agricultural use is generally regarded as the best means of disposal. However, its impact on soil ecosystems remains uncertain. Biosolids can improve soil properties by supplying nutrients and increasing organic matter content but there is also a potentially detrimental effect arising from the introduction of heavy metals into soils. To assess the balance between these competing effects on soil health, we investigated soil bacterial and fungal diversity and community structure at a site that has been dedicated to the disposal of sewage sludge for over 100 years. Terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) was used to characterize the soil microbial communities. The most important contaminants at the site were Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd, and Pb. Concentrations were highly correlated and Zn concentration was adopted as a good indicator of the overall (historical) biosolids loading. A biosolids loading, equivalent to 700–1000 mg kg−1 Zn appeared to be optimal for maximum bacterial and fungal diversity. This markedly exceeds the maximum soil Zn concentration of 300 mg kg−1permitted under the current UK Sludge (use in agriculture) Regulations. Redundancy analysis (RDA) suggested that the soil microbial communities had been altered in response to the accumulation of trace metals, especially Zn, Cd, and Cu. We believe this is the first time the trade-off between positive and negative effects of long term (>100 years) biosolids disposal on soil microorganisms have been observed in the field situation. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:45:40Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-41515 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:45:40Z |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-415152020-05-04T19:57:39Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/41515/ The response of soil microbial diversity and abundance to long-term application of biosolids Mossa, Abdul-Wahab Dickinson, Matthew J. West, Helen M. Young, Scott D. Crout, Neil M.J. The disposal of biosolids poses a major environmental and economic problem. Agricultural use is generally regarded as the best means of disposal. However, its impact on soil ecosystems remains uncertain. Biosolids can improve soil properties by supplying nutrients and increasing organic matter content but there is also a potentially detrimental effect arising from the introduction of heavy metals into soils. To assess the balance between these competing effects on soil health, we investigated soil bacterial and fungal diversity and community structure at a site that has been dedicated to the disposal of sewage sludge for over 100 years. Terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) was used to characterize the soil microbial communities. The most important contaminants at the site were Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd, and Pb. Concentrations were highly correlated and Zn concentration was adopted as a good indicator of the overall (historical) biosolids loading. A biosolids loading, equivalent to 700–1000 mg kg−1 Zn appeared to be optimal for maximum bacterial and fungal diversity. This markedly exceeds the maximum soil Zn concentration of 300 mg kg−1permitted under the current UK Sludge (use in agriculture) Regulations. Redundancy analysis (RDA) suggested that the soil microbial communities had been altered in response to the accumulation of trace metals, especially Zn, Cd, and Cu. We believe this is the first time the trade-off between positive and negative effects of long term (>100 years) biosolids disposal on soil microorganisms have been observed in the field situation. Elsevier 2017-05 Article PeerReviewed Mossa, Abdul-Wahab, Dickinson, Matthew J., West, Helen M., Young, Scott D. and Crout, Neil M.J. (2017) The response of soil microbial diversity and abundance to long-term application of biosolids. Environmental Pollution, 224 . pp. 16-25. ISSN 1873-6424 Biosolids; Microbial diversity; Heavy metals; T-RFLP; Long term effects on soil http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0269749116317705 doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2017.02.056 doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2017.02.056 |
| spellingShingle | Biosolids; Microbial diversity; Heavy metals; T-RFLP; Long term effects on soil Mossa, Abdul-Wahab Dickinson, Matthew J. West, Helen M. Young, Scott D. Crout, Neil M.J. The response of soil microbial diversity and abundance to long-term application of biosolids |
| title | The response of soil microbial diversity and abundance to long-term application of biosolids |
| title_full | The response of soil microbial diversity and abundance to long-term application of biosolids |
| title_fullStr | The response of soil microbial diversity and abundance to long-term application of biosolids |
| title_full_unstemmed | The response of soil microbial diversity and abundance to long-term application of biosolids |
| title_short | The response of soil microbial diversity and abundance to long-term application of biosolids |
| title_sort | response of soil microbial diversity and abundance to long-term application of biosolids |
| topic | Biosolids; Microbial diversity; Heavy metals; T-RFLP; Long term effects on soil |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/41515/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/41515/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/41515/ |