Mining and metallurgical activities are responsible for pollution of extensive soil areas around the world, with their effects not being well known under Brazilian conditions. Total and water soluble contents of heavy metals and microbial density and activity were evaluated, in this 1996 study using samples from seven sites located in a dumping site of a zinc industry in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Additionally, a non-contaminated site was used as reference. All contaminated sites presented high total and soluble levels reaching, in mg kg-1, 11969 and 726 of Zn, 109 and 18 of Cd, 1016 and 0 of Pb and 887 and 8 of Cu, respectively. All biological characteristics assessed were affected by the excess of metals, except the number of ammonifiers. The C-biomass was reduced by more than 80 % in four contaminated sites as compared to the non-contaminated site. Soil basal respiration was maximum when Andropogon sp was the dominant plant cover and minimal in vegetation-free contaminated sites. Counts of culturable fungi and actinomycetes were less affected by contamination as compared to bacteria. Azospirillum spp. were only detected in the non-contaminated site. Ammonium oxidizers were found only in two sites with vegetation, whereas nitrite oxidizers were found in most sites. Microbial density and activity tended to be higher in contaminated sites covered with some type of vegetation than in those sites without vegetation. Total and water soluble contents of Zn, Cd and Cu were only slightly correlated with the biological characteristics, except for qCO2 which showed to be a good indicator of soil contamination with these metals. The available data indicate a complex chemical-biological interaction in soils highly contaminated with heavy metals.
soil pollution; bacteria; fungi; actinomycetes; microbial biomass