A greenhouse pot experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of sewage sludge enriched with Cd, Cu, Zn and Hg on soil rhizosphere microbial community of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). The results showed that wheat biomass was negatively influenced by adding sewage sludge and heavy metals, microbial biomass carbon (Cmic), functional diversity (H’) and average well color development (AWCD) significantly increased with increasing the application rate of sewage sludge. The Cmic and the ratio of Cmic and organic carbon (Corg) obviously increased with adding the contents of heavy metals at without sludge treatments, while the wheat biomass obviously decreased. Furthermore, there was the greater negative effect of combination between sewage sludge and heavy metals on microbial properties. Our study suggested that it was necessary to apply sewage sludge on a small scale and lay special stress on the importance of removing the heavy metals from sewage sludge to facilitate the long-term agricultural use in croplands.
Sewage sludge, Heavy metal, Microbial community, Rhizosphere soil, Wheat
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