Adaptive Development of Soil Bacterial Communities to Ecological Processes Caused by Mining Subsidence.

Abstract

Subsidence from coal mining is a major environmental issue, causing significant damage to soil structure. Soil microorganisms, highly sensitive to environmental changes, adapt accordingly. This study focused on four areas of the Burdai coal mine: a non-subsidence area (CK), half-yearly (HY), 1-year (OY), and 2-year (TY) subsidence areas. Using high-throughput sequencing and molecular ecological network analysis, we examined soil microbial community diversity and structure across these zones, exploring microbial community assembly and functional predictions. Results showed that compared to the control, subsidence areas experienced reduced soil water content, organic matter, available phosphorus, and alkaline nitrogen, with the lowest levels observed at 1 year. These values began to rise after 1 year, suggesting natural recovery after subsidence stabilized. Microbial communities were closely related to soil organic matter, water content, and alkaline nitrogen. At the 1-year mark, soil property changes significantly reduced microbial diversity, which then began to recover after 2 years. The microbial network during 1-year subsidence was simpler, with 102 nodes, 179 edges, and an average degree of 3.51, indicating that early subsidence was unstable, and the microbial community was still adapting. By 1 year, community structure and interactions had begun to stabilize. Stochastic processes played a key role in microbial variability during short-term subsidence.