Microbiological and Physicochemical Studies of Wetland Soils in Alimosho Local Government Area, Lagos, Nigeria

Abstract

The Microbiological and Physicochemical characteristics of wetland soils in Alimosho Local Government Area, Nigeria were studied during the dry season in 2015. Total Heterotrophic Bacterial Counts (THBC) and Total Fungal Counts (TFC) were deter mined using standard procedures from four locations at 2-20cm depths during the dry season. Microbial isolates were characterized and identified. Chemical param eters were also determined using UV-VIS Spectrophotometer. THBC ranged from 7.0×103cfu/g to 2.0×10 3 cfu/g for the different locations of the site. The THBC for the control site was 5.0×10 3 cfu/g, Site 1 was 2.0×10 3 cfu/g, Site 2 was 7.0×10 3 cfu/g and Site 3 was 3.0×10 3 cfu/g. TFC ranged from 8.0×10 3 cfu/g to 3.0×103cfu/g for different loca tions of the site. The TFC for the control site was 4.0×10 3 cfu/g, Site1 was 3.0×10 3 cfu/g, Site2 was 8.0×10 3 cfu/g, and Site3 was 3.0×10 3 cfu/g respectively. Bacillus sp, Staphy lococcus sp, Pseudomonas sp, Klebsiella sp, Escherichia coli, Proteus mirabilis and Streptococcus species which were identified by biochemical test were predominate bacteria while Aspergillus sp, Penicillium sp, Rhizopus sp, Mucor sp and Fusarium sp which were also identified macroscopically and microscopically were the domi nant fungi genera isolated. The physicochemical results showed values which ranged from 1957.33mg/kg to 2703.88mg/kg for Iron, 122.87mg/kg to 172.95mg/kg for Zinc, 24250.12mg/kg to 31832.45mg/kg for Potassium, 8078.48mg/kg to 12269.17mg/kg for Calcium, 0.17ppm to 0.30ppm for Phosphate and 0.04ppm to 0.8ppm for Nitrite. The pH ranged from 5.14 to 6.52 and Temperature ranged from 25°C to 27.3°C. It was observed that the pH was generally acidic at all locations. Potassium dominated the exchangeable bases among the elements while phosphate and nitrite have the least occurrence. Though the presence of some minerals in higher amount in the soil may lead to increase in bacterial load and help the organisms in degrading a wide variety of organic material which will eventually lead to high yield productivity of agricultural products from the wetland. These results provide the baseline data of Alimosho wet land soils for its management and sustainable agriculture.