The discharge of acid mine drainage from abandoned high sulfur (S) coal mines has caused serious pollution in the Shandi River, Yangquan, Shanxi Province. To determine the impact of long-term acid mine drainage on the microorganisms in the river, we collected river sediments from a polluted tributary (Group P) and the mainstream of Shandi River (Group R) to study the bacterial diversity and community composition. The results showed that the tributary was seriously polluted by acid drainage from abandoned coal mines, with the pH value of the sediment being < 2.5, resulting in the low bacterial richness and diversity of the tributary samples. Acidophillic Fe- and S-metabolizing bacteria, such as Metallibacterium, Acidiphilium, and Acidithiobacillus, were the dominant genera in Group P samples, while the Group R was dominated by the neutral anaerobic iron-reducing bacteria Geothrix and Geobacter. Results of principal co-ordinates analysis (PCoA) revealed that the bacterial communities are significantly different between groups P and R, and the significant different species were mainly attributed to phylum Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, and Acidobacteria. The distribution of the microbial community is mainly influenced by pH, and the Fe and Cd concentrations. Metallicactrium, the dominant genus, is negatively correlated with pH (R² = − 0.95) and positively correlated with Fe (R² = 0.99), while Geothrix and Geobacter, are mainly affected by the heavy metals. This study determined the impact of river pollution caused by abandoned coal mine drainage, especially on the microbial diversity and community composition within the river sediment.

废弃的高硫（S）煤矿排放的酸性矿山排水对山西阳泉的山地河造成了严重污染。为了确定长期酸性矿山排水对河流中微生物的影响，我们从受污染的支流（P组）和山地河干流（R组）收集了河流沉积物，以研究细菌的多样性和群落组成。结果表明，支流废弃的煤矿排酸严重污染了支流，沉积物的pH值小于2.5，致使支流样品细菌丰富度和多样性较低。Acidophillic的Fe和S-代谢细菌，如Metallibacterium，Acidiphilium，和嗜酸，是P组样本的主要属，而R组则由中性厌氧还原铁细菌Geothrix和Geobacter主导。主坐标分析（PCoA）结果表明，P组和R组之间的细菌群落存在显着差异，并且显着不同的物种主要归因于门菌，变形杆菌和酸性杆菌。微生物群落的分布主要受pH值以及Fe和Cd浓度的影响。金属属，最主要属，与pH呈负相关（R ²  =-0.95），与Fe呈正相关（R ²  = 0.99），而Geothrix和Geobacter则主要受重金属影响。这项研究确定了废弃煤矿排水造成的河流污染的影响，特别是对河流沉积物中微生物多样性和群落组成的影响。