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Efficiencies of different microbial parameters as indicator to assess slight metal pollutions in a farm field near a gold mining area

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Abstract

In order to monitor changes in the concentrations of metals in the soil, different microbial indices such as BIOLOG®, microbial carbon (Cmic), basal respiration, and culturable microbe’s most probable number were used. We compared these methods and wanted to discover which method was the best at measuring slight changes in the amounts of heavy metals. Factor analyses were applied to the BIOLOG® data and metal concentrations so the combined effects of heavy metals on microbes could be analyzed via statistical data reduction and the distribution patterns of metal concentration could also be revealed. The results showed that the BIOLOG® method could barely detect subtle characteristic changes in the soil samples, while the Cmic method was more sensitive. Furthermore, different heavy metals did not have the same origin/source, and their effects on microbial indices should be analyzed separately. Significant positive correlations between Cmic and metals were observed and suggested the limitation of using traditional microbial parameters as metal pollution indicators. Among all the soil characteristics in our study, pH seemed to be the most active abiotic factor that affected microorganisms.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ecology and Biodiversity Institute, College of Life Science, Shandong University, Ji’nan, 250100, China

    Qiang Wang, Yue Yu, Yongli Zhang, Tianlin Shen & Renqing Wang

  2. Environment Research Institute, Shandong University, Ji’nan, 250100, China

    Jiulan Dai, Jiangsheng Liu & Renqing Wang

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  1. Qiang Wang
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  2. Jiulan Dai
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  3. Yue Yu
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  4. Yongli Zhang
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  5. Tianlin Shen
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  6. Jiangsheng Liu
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  7. Renqing Wang
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Correspondence to Renqing Wang.

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Wang, Q., Dai, J., Yu, Y. et al. Efficiencies of different microbial parameters as indicator to assess slight metal pollutions in a farm field near a gold mining area. Environ Monit Assess 161, 495–508 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-009-0763-6

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