The effect of chelators on the microbiota and phytoremediation of coal dump soils
摘要
Coal mining, warehousing and storage of coal waste lead to soil contamination with heavy metals. One of the promising methods for the reclamation of contaminated soils is induced phytoremediation. Its effectiveness depends on the state of the plant rhizosphere microbial communities. The purpose of this study was to investigate the microbiological activity and phytoremediation efficiency of heavy metal contaminated soils. The plants Elytrigia repens and herbaceous phytoextractor Medicago sativa were used. Chelating agents Na-EDTA, citric and oxalic acids were used. The use of chelating agents increased the phytostabilization potential of E. repens and the phytoextraction potential of M. sativa for Cd, Pb, Cu, Ni and Zn. The highest intensity of metal uptake was observed in variants with the application of organic acids, especially citric acid. It was revealed that with addition of citric acid, the abundance of ammonifying bacteria increased by 4–7.5 times, whereas the abundance of bacteria utilizing ammonium nitrogen and the activity of ammonium oxidation, in contrast, decreased by 1.9–2.2 and 1.1–2.9 times, respectively. The use of citric acid for the purpose of induced phytostabilization resulted in the accumulation of ammonium in the soil, which is especially favorable for plant community of the coal dumps. The obtained results allow us to conclude that the use of E. repens and M. sativa in combination with citric acid is a promising approach for the phytoremediation of heavy-metal-contaminated soils of coal dumps.