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Environmental risks of farmed and barren alkaline coal ash landfills in Tuzla, Bosnia and Hezegovina
(2008)
Microbial communities are essential for a range of soil functions and adjust to soil development, environmental conditions and pollution level by community structure, abundance and activity. At desolated landfills of coal combustion waste (CCW) that were un-covered and covered with shallow soil material layers, soil microbial indicators were estimated for both the ecological and eco-toxicological evaluation. The young CCW sites with pH values of 9.5 and substantial coal-derived organic carbon showed significant microbial biomass content and nitrogen mineralization rates. At the 0 to 15 year old landfills, the microbial biomass content and activities increased significantly with age. However, large spatial variations occurred due to the variation of the cover material thickness, the degree of ash-aging and the tillage practices. Carbon dioxide was even sequestered at young CCW sites as indicated during laboratory incubation with an open apparatus purging continuously ambient air. In accordance, the respiratory quotient went down to 0.03 mol CO2 evolution rate per mol O2 uptake rate, indicating that the CO2 evolution rate is limited as an overall quality indicator. Within 15 years, these ‘Technosols’ showed pH values of 7.7 and decalcified while changes in microbial biomass content and activity rates were mainly related to N availability. We concluded that the available As, B, Cr and Ni pollution at CCW sites seemed largely immobilised by organic matter and alkalinity and therefore did not to inhibit the microbial colonisation and development of high microbial activity within 15 years. However, the ash disposals pose a contamination risk by wind erosion and a future risk to human or environmental health when toxic metals will be released in soil at low pH values, low organic matter and low antagonistic ion contents.
In 2005, a 7-ha artificial watershed (Chicken Creek) was built on a post mined landscape in Lusatia, Germany from sandy substrates of Pleistocene origin, commonly used in reclamation. The watershed was developed to investigate the initial phase of soil and ecosystem development under natural conditions. At this early stage, mineral nitrogen in young sandy soils is primarily limited and nitrogen fixing legumes become key components of natural succession. Local abundant pioneering legumes Lotus corniculatus and Trifolium arvense and one pioneer grass species Calamagrostis epigeios were investigated 5 years after watershed construction. In this study, we investigated the influence of spatial root and nodule distribution of these species on soil nitrogen accumulation. Soil, including roots, was sampled from field monoliths covered with the aforementioned plant species. Root systems of both legumes were mainly restricted to the upper 20 cm of soil, whereas roots of C. epigeios also developed strongly at greater depths. A positive relationship was found, with higher plant densities associated with higher root densities which were associated with higher nodule densities for legumes and which were all associated with significantly higher soil nitrogen content relative to non-vegetated areas. This research provides rare information on the role root systems of pioneer legumes play in soil nitrogen input in the early stage of soil and ecosystem development during revegetation by natural succession.
Organic soil amendments such as modified lignite and biostimulants like arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) may have the potential to improve soil biological conditions of agricultural soils. The aim of the study was to test if nitrogen-modified lignite granules (NH) are beneficial for mycorrhization, root and shoot development compared to common mineral nitrogen (Nmin) in a nitrogen and phosphorus limited soil. A greenhouse experiment with Secale cereale L. was carried out using non-sterilized and sterilized sand substrate treated with NH, AMF or Nmin and AMF+NH and AMF+Nmin and was compared to an untreated substrate (control). 7.5 t ha-1 NH and 120 kg Nmin ha−1 led to a similar increase of AMF colonization compared to the control; however, Nmin had a more positive influence on biomass development.
Significantly highest mycorrhizal colonization intensity was found for
AMF+NH. The co-application of AMF+NH revealed that shoot and root
development and shoot nutrient concentrations were significantly higher or were among the significantly highest values, when compared to the other treatments. AMF+NH may be a suitable soil amendment for nutrient-limited soils and may be more sustainable than Nmin due to
a combined increase of nitrogen, AMF and carbon/humic acids in the
soil that comes with the NH.