Diversity and Composition of Soil Microorganisms between Abandoned and
Selective-Farming Farmlands in an Antimony Mining Area
Abstract
Background and Aims Land abandonment and selective farming are two
common management methods to restore the soil conditions of low
pollution farmland in mining areas. The soil microbial community plays
an important role in farmland soil restoration, however, few studies
have compared the composition and diversity of soil microorganisms
between the abandoned farmlands (AFS) and selective-farming farmlands
(FFS). Here, the effects of AFS and FFS on soil properties and microbial
diversity were evaluated in an antimony (Sb) mining area in southern
China. This study aimed to identify effective land management methods in
terms of positive or negative changes in soil environment and bacterial
diversity. Results Due to the influence of long-term fertilization, the
nutritional properties (e.g., available N, P, and K) of soil in FFS were
significantly improved and the microbial alpha diversity including Chao1
index, Simpson index, Shannon index, and Pielou-e index significantly
increased, compared to AFS. At the phylum level, FFS had higher relative
abundances of Chloroflexi, Acidobacteria, Gemmatimonadetes, and
Rokubacteria, and lower relative abundances of Firmicutes,
Actinobacteria, and Bacteroidetes. At the genus level, FFS had higher
relative abundances of Acidothermus, Haliangium, and Rokubacteriales,
and lower relative abundances of Bacillus, Rhodococcus, Sphingomonas,
and 67-14. Redundancy analysis indicated that soil heavy metal content
and soil fertility were closely correlated with the soil microbial
community. Altogether, selective farming of low pollution farmland in
the mining area can improve soil properties and soil microbial
diversity.