Spatial Variability of PAHs and Microbial Community Structure in Surrounding Surficial Soil of Coal-Fired Power Plants in Xuzhou, China

Jing Ma, Wangyuan Zhang, Yi Chen, Shaoliang Zhang, Qiyan Feng, Huping Hou and Fu Chen
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Jing Ma: Low Carbon Energy Institute, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221008, Jiangsu, China
Wangyuan Zhang: School of Environment Science and Spatial Informatics, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221008, Jiangsu, China
Yi Chen: School of Environment Science and Spatial Informatics, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221008, Jiangsu, China
Shaoliang Zhang: Low Carbon Energy Institute, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221008, Jiangsu, China
Qiyan Feng: School of Environment Science and Spatial Informatics, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221008, Jiangsu, China
Huping Hou: School of Environment Science and Spatial Informatics, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221008, Jiangsu, China
Fu Chen: Low Carbon Energy Institute, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou 221008, Jiangsu, China

IJERPH, 2016, vol. 13, issue 9, 1-13

Abstract: This work investigated the spatial profile and source analysis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in soil that surrounds coal-fired power plants in Xuzhou, China. High-throughput sequencing was employed to investigate the composition and structure of soil bacterial communities. The total concentration of 15 PAHs in the surface soils ranged from 164.87 to 3494.81 ?g/kg dry weight. The spatial profile of PAHs was site-specific with a concentration of 1400.09–3494.81 ?g/kg in Yaozhuang. Based on the qualitative and principal component analysis results, coal burning and vehicle emission were found to be the main sources of PAHs in the surface soils. The phylogenetic analysis revealed differences in bacterial community compositions among different sampling sites. Proteobacteria was the most abundant phylum, while Acidobacteria was the second most abundant. The orders of Campylobacterales , Desulfobacterales and Hydrogenophilales had the most significant differences in relative abundance among the sampling sites. The redundancy analysis revealed that the differences in bacterial communities could be explained by the organic matter content. They could also be explicated by the acenaphthene concentration with longer arrows. Furthermore, OTUs of Proteobacteria phylum plotted around particular samples were confirmed to have a different composition of Proteobacteria phylum among the sample sites. Evaluating the relationship between soil PAHs concentration and bacterial community composition may provide useful information for the remediation of PAH contaminated sites.

Keywords: polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; spatial distribution; source apportionment; high-throughput sequencing; soil microbial community (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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