Effects of Heavy Metal Pollutions on the Ecological Functions of Soil Microbes:A Review

A great number and variety of soil microorganisms as the main participants of global chemical-cycle and energy conversion,and their bio-chemical processes can be damaged by the heavy metal pollution.Studying the ecological effects of heavy metal pollution on soil microorganisms,the soil microbiological evaluation index system can be established to access the heavy metal pollution.Undoubtedly,the system is helpful not only for the environmental monitoring but also for the risk assessment of the soil.This review systematically introduced the present researches including the heavy metal pollution’s effects on the number and diversity of soil microorganisms,degradation of organic matter,N transfer and enzyme activity.The related researches on the soil of South China were more than that of North China.Moreover,the other environmental interference was hard to be avoided in these studies.Therefore,a few suggestions are proposed as follows: Molecular techniques should be widely used in the future research;A more comprehensive and applicable soil microbiological evaluation index system should be established.