The relationship between microbial communities processes and mine waste contamination in upper Clark Fork River alluvial soils
Year: 2006
Type: dissertation
Abstract: New approaches to discriminate contaminant effects from natural spatiotemporal variation under field conditions in long-term contaminated systems are needed in order to evaluate remediation options. We used a combination o f sampling and statistical approaches to investigate the relative influence of metals, soil acidity, and organic matter on a suite of analogous plant and microbial community parameters (Plants: species percentage canopy cover, richness, and plant, graminoid, and forb biomass. Microbes: PLFA community profiles, PLFA richness, and microbial, bacterial, and fungal biomass) in floodplain soils contaminated by mine wastes in the early twentieth century. We compared the sensitivity o f plant and microbial communities using quantile regression and multivariate analyses. We also investigated biological and geochemical changes that occurred along a short transect (64 cm) that spanned a transition from a productive grassland to an area o f barren wasteland representing a total functional collapse of the grassland/soil ecosystem. Along the small-scale transect we quantified geochemical parameters (heavy metal concentrations, soil acidity, organic matter content, and soil Microbial Ecology Program, The University o f Montana 2 Biology Department, The university o f Montana 3Biology Department, Boise State University 4 Geology Department, The University o f Montana Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Source: The Mathematics Enthusiast
Author: Philip W. Ramsey
Institution: University of Montana
Language: English
Topic: Heavy metals in environment
Subfield: Pollution
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2465740571