Biological Systems: Theory and Innovation

Diagnostics and bioremediation of soils affected by military operations in Ukraine

Liudmyla Biliavska, Galyna Iutynska, Mariia Loboda, Bohdan Ropotilov, Serhii Skrotskyi
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Abstract

As a result of the full-scale invasion, extensive areas of agroecosystems suffered from toxic substances, which made the issue of restoring damaged land through the destruction of pollutants relevant. The purpose of this study was to substantiate and systematise diagnostic indicators for characterising soil bioactivity and to develop scientific approaches to bioremediation of damaged land. The study employed the method of analysing existing approaches to solving problems, the method of comparing data on the number of microorganisms of the main ecological and functional groups, which was determined according to the method of sowing soil suspensions on agarified nutrient media. The indices of microbial processes were calculated. Bioremediation measures were performed by introducing microbial biomass and culture fluids into the soil: Dietzia maris IMV B-7350, Rhodococcus erythropolis IMV B-7351, Bacilus subtilis IMV B-7349, Pseudomonas aureofaciens IMV B-7558, and Streptomyces violaceus IMV Ac-5027. The findings of the study showed that the level of microbiota repression in the soil affected by the explosions was exceedingly high compared to the undamaged soil. The most sensitive were phosphate-mobilising, nitrogen-fixing, amylolytic (including streptomycetes) microorganisms. In the soil from the bomb crater, the number of nitrogen-fixing and streptomycetes was 7% and 8% of the control, respectively, oligotrophic and amylolytic – 19.2% and 23.6%; phosphatemobilising  – 26%. In the soil damaged by an anti-tank shell explosion, the number of amylolytic, phosphate-mobilising, nitrogen-fixing, oligotrophic, and streptomycetes bacteria was 1.5%-10% of the control soil. The microbiota was repeatedly analysed 6 months after soil bioremediation. In the soil from the bomb crater, the number of phosphate-mobilising and nitrogen-fixing microorganisms increased and was 1.5-3.8 times greater than in the undamaged control, while the number of streptomycetes increased 12 times compared to the damaged soil. In the soil from the unexploded ordnance crater, the amount of phosphate mobilisers was 2.5 times higher than in the control, while the number of streptomycetes and nitrogen fixers increased 5.9 and 20.5 times, respectively, compared to the damaged soil. After bioremediation measures, the soil samples under study can be classified as either slightly toxic or non-toxic. The practical value of this study lies in the effectiveness of the proposed bioremediation approach, which is crucial for the further development of soil remediation measures in the context of the destruction of the Ukrainian agroecosystem

Keywords

military impact; damage; restoration; biological products; biological activity; soil microbiota

Suggested citation
Biliavska, L., Iutynska, G., Loboda, M., Ropotilov, B., & Skrotskyi, S. (2024). Diagnostics and bioremediation of soils affected by military operations in Ukraine. Biological Systems: Theory and Innovation, 15(3), 67-78. https://doi.org/10.31548/biologiya/3.2024.67
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