|
| Evolution of soil physicochemical properties and bacteria during vegetation restoration in coal gangue dumps in southwest China |
| Received:June 05, 2025 |
| View Full Text View/Add Comment Download reader |
| KeyWord:open-pit coal mine;vegetation restoration;soil physicochemical properties;microbial communities;bacterial co-occurrence network |
| Author Name | Affiliation | E-mail | | YUAN Yuqi | College of Forestry, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China | | | LI Yijie | College of Forestry, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China | | | WANG Xiaoyu | College of Forestry, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China | | | MENG Weicai | College of Forestry, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China | | | LIU Linghua | College of Forestry, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China | | | YANG Fan | College of Forestry, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China | | | CAI Cuiting | College of Forestry, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China | | | HOU Xiaolong | College of Forestry, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China
National Positioning Observation and Research Station of Red Soil Hill Ecosystem in Changting, Changting 366300, China
Cross-Strait Collaborative Innovation Center of Soil and Water Conservation, Fuzhou 350002, China | xl.hou@fafu.edu.cn |
|
| Hits: 1508 |
| Download times: 696 |
| Abstract: |
| To investigate changes in soil and bacterial characteristics during revegetation of coal gangue dump sites, a study focusing on a coal gangue dump site of an open-pit coal mine in Xingren City, southwest Guizhou, was conducted. The study employed a functional zoning approach combined with standard quadrat-based S-shaped composite sampling. Soil physicochemical properties were assessed across four distinct restoration zones（raw gangue piles（waste rock dump）, soil overlay region, revegetated area, and undisturbed zone）. The composition and diversity of soil bacterial communities were analyzed using high-throughput sequencing technology. The results showed that significant soil acidification occurred in the coal gangue pile, with a minimum pH of only 2.94（waste rock dump）. Following vegetation restoration, soil pH increased, although the pH in the revegetated area（4.87）remained significantly lower than that in the undisturbed zone（6.45）（P<0.05）. Soil bulk density decreased, while soil nutrient content increased gradually. Specifically, the contents of total nitrogen（TN）, total potassium（TK）, available nitrogen（AN）, available phosphorus（AP）, and available potassium（AK）in the revegetated area soil were all significantly higher than those in the waste rock dump（P<0.05）.Soil bacterial community abundance and alpha diversity increased with vegetation restoration. With vegetation restoration, the relative abundances of Actinobacteria, Chloroflexi, Acidimicrobiia, and Actinobacteria initially decrease and then increase, whereas those of Proteobacteria, Bacteroidota, Gammaproteobacteria, Alphaproteobacteria, and Bacteroidia decline. Soil pH and TK were identified as the main environmental factors affecting bacterial community changes during vegetation restoration, whereas total carbon（TC）and moisture content（MC）were key factors influencing the composition at the phylum level.Vegetation restoration enhanced the number of nodes, average clustering coefficient, and modularity index of the soil bacterial co-occurrence network, thereby improving the stability of the bacterial community structure. In conclusion, vegetation restoration in the mining area improved soil physicochemical properties, increased the relative abundance of bacterial phyla such as Actinobacteria and Chloroflexi, enhanced the stability of the overall bacterial community, and promoted the gradual improvement of the soil environment. |
|
|
|
