Contrasting seasonal variations of geochemistry and microbial community in two adjacent acid mine drainage lakes in Anhui Province, China

Ruirui Xin; Joseph Frazer Banda; Chunbo Hao; Huiyuan Dong; Lixin Pei; Dongyi Guo; Pengfei Wei; Zerui Du; Yi Zhang; Hailiang Dong

doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2020.115826

Contrasting seasonal variations of geochemistry and microbial community in two adjacent acid mine drainage lakes in Anhui Province, China

Environ Pollut. 2021 Jan 1;268(Pt A):115826. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2020.115826. Epub 2020 Oct 13.

Authors

Ruirui Xin¹, Joseph Frazer Banda¹, Chunbo Hao², Huiyuan Dong¹, Lixin Pei¹, Dongyi Guo³, Pengfei Wei¹, Zerui Du⁴, Yi Zhang¹, Hailiang Dong⁵

Affiliations

¹ Geomicrobiology Laboratory, State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences, Beijing, 100083, China; School of Water Resources and Environment, China University of Geosciences, Beijing, 100083, China.
² Geomicrobiology Laboratory, State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences, Beijing, 100083, China; School of Water Resources and Environment, China University of Geosciences, Beijing, 100083, China. Electronic address: chunbohao@cugb.edu.cn.
³ Geomicrobiology Laboratory, State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences, Beijing, 100083, China.
⁴ Beijing Municipal Environmental Monitoring Center, Beijing, 100048, China.
⁵ Geomicrobiology Laboratory, State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences, Beijing, 100083, China; Department of Geology and Environmental Earth Science, Miami University, Oxford, OH, 45056, USA.

PMID: 33160735
DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2020.115826

Abstract

Acid mine drainage (AMD) is generated by the bio-oxidation of sulfide minerals. To understand the AMD formation and evolution, it is necessary to determine the composition and variation of acidophilic community, and their role in AMD ecosystem. In this study, we compared seasonal variations of geochemistry and microbial composition of two adjacent AMD lakes with different formation histories in Anhui Province, China. Lake Paitu (PT) formed in 1970s near a mine dump and the pH was in the range of 3.01-3.16, with the lowest in spring and summer while the highest in winter. The main ions in PT were Al and SO₄^2-, whereas Fe concentration was relatively low. The concentrations of these ions were the lowest in summer and the highest in winter. Lake Tafang (TF) formed in around 2013 in a pit was more acidic (pH 2.43-2.75), but the seasonal variation of pH was the same as PT. Compared with Lake PT, TF had higher Fe, lower Al and SO₄^2- concentrations, and showed no significant seasonal changes. Despite salient seasonal variations of prokaryotic composition in Lake PT, Ferrovum was the major iron-oxidizing bacterium in most seasons. Furthermore, Lake PT was also rich in heterotrophic bacteria (48.6 ± 15.9%). Both prokaryotic diversity and evenness of Lake TF were lower than PT, and chemolithotrophic iron-oxidizing bacteria (71.7 ± 25.4%) were dominant in almost all samples. Besides Ferrovum, more acid tolerant iron-oxidizer Leptospirillum and Acidithiobacillus were also abundant in Lake TF. Chlamydomonas was the major eukaryote in Lake PT and it flourished repeatedly at the end of December, causing an extremely high chlorophyll a concentration (587 μg/L) at one sampling site in 2016, which provided rich nutrients for heterotrophic bacteria. The main alga in Lake TF was Chrysonebula, but its concentration was low, apparently because of the strong acidity and dark red color of lake water.

Keywords: Acid mine drainage; Acidophile; Chlamydomonas; Geochemical cycles; Seasonal variation.

MeSH terms

China
Chlorophyll A
Lakes*
Microbiota*
Seasons

Substances

Chlorophyll A