Soil protection and remediation

Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.

The way soils are managed (fertilisers, pH control, waste additions and organic matter inputs) affects the soil environment. This can affect vital soil functions such as nutrient cycling and the degradation of organic pollutants and therefore the sustainability of agricultural systems. For example, contaminants such as heavy metals/metalloids and persistent organic pollutants accumulate in soils and threaten the sustainability of soil functions, but their bioavailability is poorly understood. Heavy metal/metalloid toxicity in soils is influenced by a number of factors such as the type of organism, soil properties, aging processes and the chemical speciation of the metal. Our objective is to understand the molecular and ecological basis of these interactions, using unique, well-equilibrated field experiments available to Rothamsted. We will examine the link between microbial diversity of key functional groups, gene expression and their activity in soil, as affected by environmental factors, including metal/metalloid speciation in soil using advanced HPLC-ICP-MS and synchrotron radiation X-ray absorption spectrometry techniques, and to quantify the factors controlling toxicity for use in either empirical or mechanistic models. Functional gene microarray approaches, pyrosequencing of soil DNA, and the use of fully sequenced model organisms, such as Pseudomonas putida which has catabolic activity for some organic contaminants, will be employed on soils which differ in their management, soil properties and contamination status to test under which conditions soil functions break down. We will also test the hypothesis that the spatial location of contaminants affects the observed toxicity and function of soils.

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