Field-scale biostimulation shifts microbial communitycomposition and improves soil pollution recovery at anartisanal crude oil refining site

Abstract

Hydrocarbon pollution has led to the destruction of farmlands andfishing settlements in the Niger Delta. In this study, DNA metabar-coding was used to investigate bacterial response during the reme-diation of an artisanal refining site. Total petroleum hydrocarbonsreduced from 93,720 mg kg-1 on timepoint zero to 9,029.76 mg kg-1on day 91. Bacterial species distribution significantly reduced duringremediation. The most responsive phyla to the remediation approachwere Proteobacteria and Cyanobacteria. Pathways for hydrocarbondegradation were differentially abundant during remediation.Overall, nutrient addition and intermittent tillage improved bacterialenergy yield and the degradation of hydrocarbons