RT Journal Article
T1 Metal Contamination Disturbs Biochemical and Microbial Properties of Calcareous Agricultural Soils of the Mediterranean Area
A1 Santiago Martín, Ana De
A1 Cheviron, Natalie
A1 Quintana Nieto, José Ramón
A1 González Huecas, Concepción
A1 López Lafuente, Antonio Leovigildo
A1 Mougin, Christian
AB Abstract Mediterranean climate characteristics and carbonate are key factors governing soil heavy-metal accumulation, and low organic matter (OM) content could limit the ability of microbial populations to cope with resulting stress. We studied the effects of metal contamination on a combination of biological parameters in soils having these characteristics. With this aim, soils were spiked with a mixture of cadmium, copper, lead, and zinc, at the two limit values proposed by current European legislation, and incubated for B12 months. Then we measured biochemical (phosphatase, urease, b-galactosidase, arylsulfatase, and dehydrogenase activities) and microbial (fungal and bacterial DNA concentration by quantitative polymerase chain reaction) parameters. All of the enzyme activities were strongly affected by metal contamination and showed the following inhibition sequence: phosphatase (30–64 %)\arylsulfatase (38–97 %) B urease (1–100 %) B b-galactosidase (30–100 %)\dehydrogenase (69–100 %). The high variability among soils was attributed to the different proportion of fine mineral fraction, OM, crystalline iron oxides, and divalent cations in soil solution. The decrease of fungal DNA concentration in metal-spiked soils was negligible, whereas the decrease of bacterial DNA was*1–54 % at the lowest level and 2–69 % at the highest level of contamination. The lowest bacterial DNA decrease occurred in soils with the highest OM, clay, and carbonate contents. Finally, regarding the strong inhibition of the biological parameters measured and the alteration of the fungal/ bacterial DNA ratio, we provide strong evidence that disturbance on the system, even within the limiting values of contamination proposed by the current European Directive, could alter key soil processes. These limiting values should be established according to soil characteristics and/or revised when contamination is produced by a mixture of heavy metals.
PB Springer
SN 0090-4341
YR 2012
FD 2012
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/95103
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/95103
LA eng
NO De Santiago-Martín A, Cheviron N, Quintana JR, González C, Lafuente AL, Mougin C. Metal Contamination Disturbs Biochemical and Microbial Properties of Calcareous Agricultural Soils of the Mediterranean Area. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol 2013;64:388–98. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00244-012-9842-8.
NO Universidad Complutense
NO Comunidad Autónoma de Madrid
NO Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (Francia)
DS Docta Complutense
RD 21 abr 2025