Biological Activity and Chemical Properties of Tundra Soils of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug in Conditions of Anthropogenic Pollution

• Published in: Eurasian soil science Vol. 55; no. 1; pp. 45 - 55
• Main Authors: Fokina, N. V., Korneykova, M. V., Redkina, V. V., Myazin, V. A., Sukhareva, T. A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Moscow Pleiades Publishing 2022; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Algae; Analysis; Anthropogenic factors; Bacteria; Biological activity; Biological properties; Biological settlement; Chemical activity; Chemical properties; Chemicophysical properties; Coal; Coliforms; Colorimetry; Copper; Cyanobacteria; Diatomaceous earth; E coli; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Enzymatic activity; Enzyme activity; Fungi; Geotechnical Engineering & Applied Earth Sciences; Heavy metals; Horizon; Iron; Manganese; Mesophiles; Metal concentrations; Metals; Microbiological studies; Oligotrophic microorganisms; Organic compounds; Pathogens; Pollution; Potassium; Psychrophiles; Sodium; Soil; Soil Biology; Soil microbiology; Soil pollution; Soil properties; Soil settlement; Soils; Storage; Taiga & tundra; Thermophilic fungi; Tundra; Zinc; Histic Cryosols; coal industry; enzymatic activity; Arctic; microorganisms
• ISSN: 1064-2293; 1556-195X
• DOI: 10.1134/S1064229322010045

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An ecological and microbiological study of the soil of the Beringovsky settlement in Chukotka Autonomous okrug has been performed. It has been found that the operation of the nearby coal storage area and household activities led to severe disturbance of natural tundra gley soils (Histic Cryosols). In the disturbed soil, the pH values increased up to the neutral or slightly alkaline reaction; the contents of exchangeable hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon of organic compounds, and available potassium and sodium decreased, and the background concentrations of heavy metals (Ni, Cu, Mn, Fe, and Zn) increased; for Cu and Zn, they exceeded the maximum permissible concentrations (MPCs) established for these elements. The enzymatic activity in the organic horizon of the studied soil determined by the colorimetric method decreases. The number of cultivated saprotrophic and oligotrophic bacteria in the upper horizon of the disturbed soil is 2–10 times higher than in the background soil, while the number of microscopic fungi—psychrophiles and mesophiles—is 38 and 9 times lower. The disturbed soil of the settlement contains thermophilic fungi belonging to conditionally pathogenic species and bacteria of the
Escherichia coli
group. An increase in the diversity of micromycetes in the soil of the settlement and changes in the structure of the fungal community have been revealed. In the disturbed soil of the settlement, 45 species of algae and cyanobacteria have been identified. In general, the diversity of microphototrophs in the disturbed soil of the settlement is significantly higher than that in the background native tundra gley soil, mainly at the expense of yellow-green and diatomaceous algae and cyanobacteria.