A comparison of microbial community function and structure in rehabilitated asbestos and coal discard sites
Date
2012Author
Claassens, Sarina
Jansen van Rensburg, Peet
Liebenberg, Danica
Van Rensburg, Leon
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Show full item recordAbstract
Previous studies have made some progress
with the use of microbial community properties as
assessment criteria for rehabilitation success of postmining
areas. Currently, there is a need for reference
ranges of specific properties in rehabilitated postmining
sites to make this approach more practical.
The aim of this investigation was to compare
assessment parameters indicative of microbial community
function (enzymatic assays) and structure
(phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) analysis) in rehabilitated
asbestos and coal discard sites and to establish
ranges of minimum and maximum values for these
parameters in both types of sites. The range established
for dehydrogenase activity in coal discard sites
was 24.3–339.5 μg INF g−12 h−1 and for asbestos
44.5–544.6 μg INF g−12 h−1. Ranges were also
established for β-glucosidase, urease, acid phosphatase
and alkaline phosphatase. Complete PLFA profiles
were determined and ranges established for
major PLFA groups and ratios in both types of
discard. From the PLFA profiles, viable microbial
biomass was determined as 6,080–29,851 and 8,128–
47,242 pmol g−1 dry weight for the coal and asbestos
discard sites, respectively. While similar ranges were
observed for both types of discard, a canonical
correspondence analysis that accounts for functional
and structural characteristics showed that sites clustered
according to the origin of the samples
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10394/17559https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-011-0927-1
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11270-011-0927-1