Improvement of plant diversity along the slope of an historical Pb–Zn slag heap ameliorates the negative effect of heavy metal on microbial communities

The botanical composition of grasslands determines the agronomic and natural values of swards. Good grassland management usually improves herbage value, but on the other hand it frequently decreases the plant diversity and species richness in the swards. In 1999 a field trial in a split-plot design with four replicates was therefore established on the Arrhenatherion type of vegetation in Ljubljana marsh meadows in order to investigate this relationship. Cutting regimes (2 cuts — with normal and delayed first cut, 3 cuts and 4 cuts per year) were allocated to the main plots and fertiliser treatments (zero fertiliser — control, PK and NPK with 2 or 3 N rates) were allocated to the sub-plots. The results at the 1 st cutting in the 5 th trial year were as follows: Fertilising either with PK or NPK had no significant negative effect on plant diversity in any of the cutting regimes. In most treatments the plant number even increased slightly compared to the control. On average, 20 species were listed on both unfertilised and fertilised swards. At this low to moderate level of exploitation intensity, the increased number of cuts had no significant negative effect on plant diversity either (19 species at 2 cuts vs. 20 species at 3 or 4 cuts). PK fertilisation increased the proportion of legumes in the herbage in the case of 2 or 3 cuts. The proportion of grasses in the herbage increased in all the fertilisation treatments with an increased numbers of cuts. Fertiliser treatment considerably reduced the proportion of marsh horsetail ( Equisetum palustre ) in the herbage of the meadows. This effect was even more pronounced at higher cut numbers. The proportion of Equisetum palustre in the herbage was the highest in the unfertilised sward with 2 cuts (26.4 %) and the lowest in the NPK-fertilised sward with 4 cuts (1.4%).

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Diversity Indices of Plant Communities and Their Rhizosphere Microbiomes: An Attempt to Find the Connection

Microorganisms ◽

10.3390/microorganisms9112339 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (11) ◽

pp. 2339

Author(s):

Aleksei O. Zverev ◽

Arina A. Kichko ◽

Aleksandr G. Pinaev ◽

Nikolay A. Provorov ◽

Evgeny E. Andronov

Keyword(s):

Microbial Communities ◽

Plant Communities ◽

Plant Diversity ◽

Beta Diversity ◽

Mutual Influence ◽

Plant Root ◽

Alpha Diversity ◽

Diversity Indices ◽

Alpha And Beta Diversity ◽

Highly Correlated

The rhizosphere community represents an “ecological interface” between plant and soil, providing the plant with a number of advantages. Despite close connection and mutual influence in this system, the knowledge about the connection of plant and rhizosphere diversity is still controversial. One of the most valuable factors of this uncertainty is a rough estimation of plant diversity. NGS sequencing can make the estimations of the plant community more precise than classical geobotanical methods. We investigate fallow and crop sites, which are similar in terms of environmental conditions and soil legacy, yet at the same time are significantly different in terms of plant diversity. We explored amplicons of both the plant root mass (ITS1 DNA) and the microbial communities (16S rDNA); determined alpha- and beta-diversity indices and their correlation, and performed differential abundance analysis. In the analysis, there is no correlation between the alpha-diversity indices of plants and the rhizosphere microbial communities. The beta-diversity between rhizosphere microbial communities and plant communities is highly correlated (R = 0.866, p = 0.01). ITS1 sequencing is effective for the description of plant root communities. There is a connection between rhizosphere communities and the composition of plants, but on the alpha-diversity level we found no correlation. In the future, the connection of alpha-diversities should be explored using ITS1 sequencing, even in more similar plant communities—for example, in different synusia.

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Comparisons of Soil Properties, Enzyme Activities and Microbial Communities in Heavy Metal Contaminated Bulk and Rhizosphere Soils of Robinia pseudoacacia L. in the Northern Foot of Qinling Mountain

Forests ◽

10.3390/f8110430 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 8 (11) ◽

pp. 430 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Yurong Yang ◽

Miao Dong ◽

Yaping Cao ◽

Jinlong Wang ◽

Ming Tang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Heavy Metal ◽

Soil Properties ◽

Microbial Communities ◽

Enzyme Activities ◽

Robinia Pseudoacacia ◽

Rhizosphere Soils ◽

Qinling Mountain ◽

Robinia Pseudoacacia L

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Effect of heavy metal-induced stress on two extremophilic microbial communities from Caviahue-Copahue, Argentina

Environmental Pollution ◽

10.1016/j.envpol.2020.115709 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 268 ◽

pp. 115709

Author(s):

Francisco L. Massello ◽

Edgardo Donati

Keyword(s):

Heavy Metal ◽

Microbial Communities ◽

Induced Stress

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Impacts of nitrogen deposition on terrestrial plant diversity: a meta-analysis in China

Journal of Plant Ecology ◽

10.1093/jpe/rtz036 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 12 (6) ◽

pp. 1025-1033 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Wen-Juan Han ◽

Jia-Yu Cao ◽

Jin-Liang Liu ◽

Jia Jiang ◽

Jian Ni

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Plant Diversity ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

N Deposition ◽

Shannon Index ◽

N Addition ◽

Terrestrial Plant ◽

Multiple Dimensions ◽

Negative Effect ◽

Experiment Duration

AbstractAimsWith the global atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition increasing, the effect of N deposition on terrestrial plant diversity has been widely studied. Some studies have reviewed the effects of N deposition on plant species diversity; however, all studies addressed the effects of N deposition on plant community focused on species richness in specific ecosystem. There is a need for a systematic meta-analysis covering multiple dimensions of plant diversity in multiple climate zones and ecosystems types. Our goal was to quantify changes in species richness, evenness and uncertainty in plant communities in response to N addition across different environmental and experimental contexts.MethodsWe performed a meta-analysis of 623 experimental records published in English and Chinese journals to evaluate the response of terrestrial plant diversity to the experimental N addition in China. Three metrics were used to quantify the change in plant diversity: species richness (SR), evenness (Pielou index) uncertainty (Shannon index).Important FindingsResults showed that (i) N addition negatively affected SR in temperate, Plateau zones and subtropical zone, but had no significant effect on Shannon index in subtropical zones; (ii) N addition decreased SR, Shannon index and Pielou index in grassland, and the negative effect of N addition on SR was stronger in forest than in grassland; (iii) N addition negatively affected plant diversity (SR, Shannon index and Pielou index) in the long term, whereas it did not affect plant diversity in the short term. Furthermore, the increase in N addition levels strengthened the negative effect of N deposition on plant diversity with long experiment duration; and (iv) the negative effect of ammonium nitrate (NH4NO3) addition on SR was stronger than that of urea (CO(NH2)2) addition, but the negative effect of NH4NO3 addition on Pielou index was weaker than that of CO(NH2)2 addition. Our results indicated that the effects of N addition on plant diversity varied depending on climate zones, ecosystem types, N addition levels, N type and experiment duration. This underlines the importance of integrating multiple dimensions of plant diversity and multiple factors into assessments of plant diversity to global environmental change.

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Assessment of some heavy metals concentration in soil and irrigated vegetable (Hibiscus sabdariffa) in Mubi Metropolis

International Journal of Agricultural Invention ◽

10.46492/ijai/2018.3.1.1 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 3 (01) ◽

pp. 1-5

Author(s):

I. D. Bake ◽

H E. Shehu ◽

H. M. Dzara

Keyword(s):

Heavy Metals ◽

Heavy Metal ◽

Atomic Absorption ◽

Agricultural Soil ◽

Research Work ◽

Pollution Index ◽

Heavy Metal Concentration ◽

Hibiscus Sabdariffa ◽

Zn Concentration ◽

Negative Effect

This research work aimed at assessment of some heavy metal concentration (Fe, Mn, Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn) in soil and their uptake by Hibiscus sabdariffa vegetable in irrigation areas, and to ascertain the danger posed from the consumption of these vegetable to human health. Samples were collected from four different locations and analyzed using bulk scientific Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS). The concentration of heavy metals (mg/kg) in agricultural soil collected from different sites along river Yadzaram ranged from 8.33 to 15.54 for Fe, 0.051 to 0.227 for Cu, 7.245 to 8.545 for Mn, 0.001 to 0.002 for Ni, 0.474 to 1.744 for Zn, and 0.001 to 0.005 for Pb. Fe concentration in plants (Hibiscus sabdariffa) ranged between 6.50 to 16.42 mg/kg in all four sites of the studied area, Cu values ranged between 0.30 to 0.72 mg/kg. The concentration of Mn in plants ranged from 2.73 to 12.09 mg/kg, Ni concentration in plant samples from four site varied from 0.001 to 0.004 mg/kg, Zn concentration varied from 0.98 to 1.99 mg/kg and Pb range values of 0.00 to 0.007 mg/kg. The contamination/ pollution index of heavy metals calculated for soil revealed that all sites were polluted with Fe at Kwacham, Wuro-gude, Kwachiffa and Sabon Gari site which suggested that it might pose negative effect on plants and soil environments while Ni, Zn, Mn, Cu and Pb are below range and will have no negative effect on soil, plant and environments.

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