Microbial communities are essential for a healthy soil ecosystem. Metals and radionuclides can exert a persistent pressure on the soil microbial community. However, little is known on the effect of long‐term co‐contamination of metals and radionuclides on the microbial community structure and functionality. We investigated the impact of historical discharges of the phosphate and nuclear industry on the microbial community in the Grote Nete river basin in Belgium. Eight locations were sampled along a transect to the river edge and one location further in the field. Chemical analysis demonstrated a metal and radionuclide contamination gradient and revealed a distinct clustering of the locations based on all metadata. Moreover, a relation between the chemical parameters and the bacterial community structure was demonstrated. Although no difference in biomass was observed between locations, cultivation‐dependent experiments showed that communities from contaminated locations survived better on singular metals than communities from control locations. Furthermore, nitrification, a key soil ecosystem process seemed affected in contaminated locations when combining metadata with microbial profiling. These results indicate that long‐term metal and radionuclide pollution impacts the microbial community structure and functionality and provides important fundamental insights into microbial community dynamics in co‐metal‐radionuclide contaminated sites.

中文翻译：

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响应长期金属和放射性核素污染的土壤微生物群落结构和功能变化

微生物群落对于健康的土壤生态系统至关重要。金属和放射性核素会对土壤微生物群落施加持续的压力。然而，关于金属和放射性核素的长期共污染对微生物群落结构和功能的影响知之甚少。我们调查了磷酸盐和核工业的历史排放对比利时 Grote Nete 河流域微生物群落的影响。沿着河流边缘的横断面对八个位置进行了采样，在田间更远的位置对一个位置进行了采样。化学分析表明存在金属和放射性核素污染梯度，并显示出基于所有元数据的不同位置聚类。此外，还证明了化学参数与细菌群落结构之间的关系。尽管在不同地点之间没有观察到生物量的差异，但依赖栽培的实验表明，来自受污染地点的群落在单一金属上的存活率比来自对照地点的群落要好。此外，将元数据与微生物分析相结合时，硝化作用是受污染地区的一个关键土壤生态系统过程。这些结果表明，长期的金属和放射性核素污染会影响微生物群落结构和功能，并为共金属-放射性核素污染场地的微生物群落动态提供重要的基础见解。将元数据与微生物分析相结合时，受污染地区的一个关键土壤生态系统过程似乎受到了影响。这些结果表明，长期的金属和放射性核素污染会影响微生物群落结构和功能，并为共金属-放射性核素污染场地的微生物群落动态提供重要的基础见解。将元数据与微生物分析相结合时，受污染地区的一个关键土壤生态系统过程似乎受到了影响。这些结果表明，长期的金属和放射性核素污染会影响微生物群落结构和功能，并为共金属-放射性核素污染场地的微生物群落动态提供重要的基础见解。