Influence of Altered Microbes on Soil Organic Carbon Availability in Karst Agricultural Soils Contaminated by Pb-Zn Tailings.

Soil organic carbon (SOC) availability is determined via a complex bio-mediated process, and Pb-Zn tailings are toxic to the soil microbes that are involved in this process. Here, Pb-Zn-tailings- contaminated karst soils with different levels (paddy field > corn field > citrus field > control group) were collected to explore the intrinsic relationship between Pb-Zn tailings and microbes due to the limited microbial abundance in these soils. The SOC concentration in the paddy fields is the highest. However, based on the soil microbial diversity and sole-carbon-source utilization profiles, the rate of SOC availability, McIntosh index, Shannon-Wiener diversity index, Simpson’s diversi…