Soil ecosystem polluted by metals affect the structure of soil invertebrate population(s) and dynamics leading to altered distribution of species. This study focuses on earthworm distribution in sewage irrigated agricultural lands around Bangalore. The occurrence of reported species from the sampled areas is Eudrilus eugeniae, Lampito maurutii, Pontoscolex corethrurus, Polypheretima elongata, P...

The global AsIII-oxidizing activity of microorganisms in eight surface soils from polluted sites was quantified with and without addition of organic substrates. The organic substances provided differed by their nature: either yeast extract, commonly used in microbiological culture media, or a synthetic mixture of defined organic matters (SMOM) presenting some common features with natural soil o...

Phytoremediation is a promising in situ green technology based on the use of plants to cleanup soils from organic and inorganic pollutants. Microbes, particularly bacteria and fungi, that closely interact with plant roots play key roles in phytoremediation processes. In polluted soils, the root-associated microbes contribute to alleviation of plant stress, improve nutrient uptake and may either...

Culturing in soils from degraded ecosystems significantly influenced the effectiveness of indigenous arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) isolated from disturbed and undisturbed soils. The AMF isolates from degraded or artificially created habitats (acid rain polluted site, power station fly ash deposits, spoil banks, pyrite deposit), were not, in most cases, more effective than those from undist...

Deciding upon a cost effective and sustainable method to address soil pollution is a challenge for many remedial project managers. High pressure to quickly achieve cleanup goals pushes for energy-intensive remedies that rapidly address the contaminants of concern with established technologies, often leaving little room for research and development especially for slower treatment technologies, s...

The presence of Psidium guajava in polluted environments has been reported in recent studies, suggesting that this species has a high tolerance to the metal stress. The present study aims at a physiological characterization of P. guajava response to high nickel (Ni) concentrations in the root-zone. Three hydroponic experiments were carried out to characterize the effects of toxic Ni concentrati...

The pollution characteristics of Pb, Cd, Zn, Cu and Ni in soil of lead−zinc mining area were studied. The results indicate that the contamination degree followed the sequence of Cd>Pb>Zn>Ni>Cu and concentrations of Pb, Cd and Zn exceeded corresponding limits of the Chinese National Soil Environmental Quality Standard III. The soil was extremely polluted by Cd (Iego=5.26), moderately to heavily ...