Journal
ECOTOXICOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY
Volume 129, Issue -, Pages 242-249Publisher
ACADEMIC PRESS INC ELSEVIER SCIENCE
DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2016.03.019
Keywords
Soil enzyme activities; Soil microbial activities; Andosols; Trace metal; Integrative Biological Response
Categories
Funding
- Fundo Regional da Ciencia e Tecnologia [M3.1.2/F/048/2011]
- Fundacao Luso Americana para o Desenvolvimento [59/12]
- FCT - Foundation for Science and Technology [UID/Multi/04423/2013]
- European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Volcanic soils are unique naturally fertile resources, extensively used for agricultural purposes and with particular physicochemical properties that may result in accumulation of toxic substances, such as trace metals. Trace metal contaminated soils have significant effects on soil microbial activities and hence on soil quality. The aim of this study is to determine the soil microbial responses to metal contamination in volcanic soils under different agricultural land use practices (conventional, traditional and organic), based on a three-tier approach: Tier 1 - assess soil microbial activities, Tier 2 - link the microbial activity to soil trace metal contamination and, Tier 3 - integrate the microbial activity in an effect-based soil index (Integrative Biological Response) to score soil health status in metal contaminated agricultural soils. Our results showed that microbial biomass C levels and soil enzymes activities were decreased in all agricultural soils. Dehydrogenase and beta-glucosidase activities, soil basal respiration and microbial biomass C were the most sensitive responses to trace metal soil contamination. The Integrative Biological Response value indicated that soil health was ranked as: organic > traditional > conventional, highlighting the importance of integrative biomarker-based strategies for the development of the trace metal footprint' in Andosols. (C) 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available