Soil bacterial community responses to cadmium and lead stabilization during ecological restoration of an abandoned mine

Ecological restoration refers to the gradual recovery of damaged ecosystems by utilizing their self-recovery capacity and artificial measures. It is considered as an effective technique to alleviate heavy metal pollution in open-pit mining soils. However, little is known about the stability of heavy metals and soil bacterial responses in artificially restored soil-plant systems. In this study, different vegetation restoration strategies were established in the Dabaoshan mining area, China, and the accumulation and transfer of Cd/Pb in the soil-plant system and the responses of the soil bacterial community were investigated. Results showed that ecological restoration with a combination of trees, shrubs and grasses/herbs could increase soil cation-exchange capacity and organic matter content, but not soil pH. The mixture of trees, shrubs and grasses/herbs was most effective for reducing the available Pb content to 33.7% of the content in the control, and the mixture of trees and grasses/herbs was beneficial in reducing Cd to 60.4% of the content in the control. Data showed that ecological restoration could change the quantity, composition and community structure of soil microorganisms. The soils in which a mixture of trees, shrubs and grasses/herbs were grown had the greatest abundance and diversity of bacteria; the abundances of Proteobacteria increased by 12% and Actinobacteria by 5% from those of the control. Plant coverage, soil available Cd content, and organic matter emerged as major determinants of bacterial community composition. This study demonstrates a promising remediation strategy for limiting Cd/Pb mobility in mining areas.