ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Microbiomes
Sec. Environmental Microbiomes
Volume 4 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/frmbi.2025.1643626
This article is part of the Research TopicEcological Roles and Functional Contributions of Environmental Microbiomes in Ecosystem DynamicsView all articles
Metal distribution, environmental risk assessment, and microbial community shifts along the Old Course of Yellow River (Shangqiu Section)
Provisionally accepted
- Shangqiu Normal University, Shangqiu, China
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The Old Course of Yellow River (OCYR), serving as a vital reminder of ancient civilizations and ecosystems, contributes significantly to agricultural irrigation, tourism growth, and acts as a natural barrier against floods and erosion. Unfortunately, it's rare to find research about the OCYR and there are no reports about the metal distribution characteristics, environmental risk assessment, and microbial communities along the OCYR. In this report, 18 water samples, 18 sediment samples, and 162 soil samples were collected from 6 sampling sites (A-Fanzhuang Village, B-Xinwen Village, C-Linqi Reservoir, D-Forest Park, E-Tianmu Lake, F-Liuyang Village) along the OCYR (Shangqiu section). Average water metal concentrations (Co: 3.028 ± 1.367, Cu: 16.88 ± 15.28, Ni: 15.73 ± 14.67, Mn: 79.58 ± 74.95, Ba: 174.7 ± 108.9, and Ti: 16.71 ± 9.812 μg·L−1) were below the WHO limits, but Co (notably in E and F) and Ni (particularly in D) need closer attention. Soil and sediment metal averages (Co: 7.891 ± 2.053, Cu: 4.446 ± 1.853, Ni: 17.90 ± 13.38, Mn: 224.6 ± 57.63, Ba: 246.7 ± 57.68, and Ti: 948.5 ± 152.3 mg·kg−1) remained below the Chinese background levels, yet continuous monitoring is crucial to prevent future accumulation, especially at sites A and F. Vertical distribution analysis revealed that metal distribution varies across sites (A-F) in enrichment depths and statistical significance. Speciation distribution analysis revealed most metals were in the residual fraction, posing minimal risk to the environment, while RAC analysis showed medium-high risk for Ba and Mn in some regions. Microbial community analysis revealed the dominance of Proteobacteria and Actinobacteriota, with Pseudorhodobacter and unclassified genera belonging to the order Vicinamibacterales being the most abundant genera. The microorganisms associated with metals were Sphingomonas, Pseudorhodobacter, and Thiobacillus, which were likely to be the potential carriers of metals.
Keywords: OCYR, The Old Course of Yellow River, Igeo, geo-accumulation index, RAC, risk assessment code, WHO, World Health Organization The Old Course of Yellow River, Metal speciation, Risk Assessment, bacterial community, Co-occurrence network
Received: 09 Jun 2025; Accepted: 21 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Du, Li, Zhang, Dong, Han, Zhou, Zhou and Xu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Bingbing Du, Shangqiu Normal University, Shangqiu, China
Yintang Zhang, Shangqiu Normal University, Shangqiu, China
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