Beside lower pH levels, acid soils, in particular soils of coniferous forests, are characterized by the presence of metals in dissociated (thereby bioavailable) cationic form (aluminum, heavy metals), small organic molecules in undissociated (thereby bioavailable) form (e.g. phenolics, terpenes), the toxicity of which has been attested. All these features are shared by soils contaminated with heavy metals and/or hydrocarbons, known for their poor functional biodiversity and, as a consequence, the accumulation of undecayed organic matter, another feature they have in common with acid soils:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/222683275
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/227520589
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/222687448
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/222687713.
However, the pH of polluted soils is often much higher (around 3 pH units higher), among other reasons because these soils are to be found in or near human settlements, thus far from geological substrates prone to the development of acid soils (there are many exceptions to this rule, in particular in nordic countries). My idea was that organisms living in acid soils were pre-adapted (exaptation) to soil pollution, but were absent from these soils because of dispersal limitation, and thus could not contribute to the restoration of functional trophic links. This idea was reinforced by analysing the evolution of stress tolerance along phylogenetic trees, which demonstrated the ancestral nature of this trait among a springtail lineage:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/259967386
Our attempts to inoculate acidophilic springtail communities in soils polluted with heavy metals failed to demonstrate this property:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/222654751
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/44922046
Among other possible reasons invoked to explain the observed failure or incomplete success of the inoculation, an acidity (oxidative) shock was thought probable. This could be circumvented by allowing the soil community to be accustomed to a higher pH level before inoculating it to a polluted soil at neutral pH (as commonly observed). Unfortunately, researches were discontinued, and I retired a few years after. However, the research subject is still open to the scientific community. Catch as catch can...
Article Acid-tolerant Collembola cannot colonize metal-polluted soil...
Article Are acid-tolerant Collembola able to colonise metal-polluted soil?
Article Changes in species assemblages and diets of Collembola along...
Article Species assemblages and diets of Collembola in the organic m...
Article An optical analysis of the organic soil over an old petroleu...
Article Humus forms and metal pollution in soil
Article Species living in harsh environments have low clade rank and...
- Badges
- Science topic
- Similar topics
- Agriculture
- Soil Science