Field-based evidence for consistent responses of bacterial communities to copper contamination in two contrasting agricultural soils

Abstract

Copper contamination on China's arable land could pose severe economic, ecological and healthy consequences in the coming decades. As the drivers in maintaining ecosystem functioning, the responses of soil microorganisms to long-term copper contamination in different soil ecosystems are still debated. This study investigated the impacts of copper gradients on soil bacterial communities in two agricultural fields with contrasting soil properties. Our results revealed consistent reduction in soil microbial biomass carbon (SMBC) with increasing copper levels in both soils, coupled by significant declines in bacterial abundance in most cases. Despite of contrasting bacterial community structures..