Fungal density and metal composition of mine soil in Causeway, Sta.Cruz, Marinduque

Abstract

Fungal studies on soil have been done throughout the world to explore the effects of detrimental anthropogenic activities such as mining. The Causeway, a 5-kilometer landmass formed by thirty years of mine tailings and recently transplanted soil in Calancan bay in Marinduque, has not yet been the subject of this kind of investigation. This study aims to determine the fungal density in the Causeway and its relationship with metal concentrations of the soil. Soil samples were acquired from three pre-determined stations throughout the Causeway. A part of each sample was subjected to X-Ray Fluorescence to determine elemental concentrations. Another part was subjected to ten-fold serial dilution up to 10’5 and plated in Saboraud Destrose Agar (SDA) in triplicate. After three to seven days, colonics were counted and isolated on Potato Dextrose Agar (PDA). PDA blocks and light microscopy were used to identify the isolates. Iron, potassium, titanium, manganese, copper, vanadium and chromium were the elements which exceeded the benchmark concentration tolerable to soil organisms as recommended by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Penicillium spp., Verticillium spp., Aspergillus spp., Acremonium curvulum, Trichophyton terrestre, Chrysosporium spp., Chrysonilia sitophila and Stemphylium spp were the fungal species isolated from the soil samples. Station 2 had the highest fungal population with 2330 cfu/mL. Station 1 had 561 cfu/mL while station 3 had 349 cfu/mL of fungi. Among the elements in the sites, iron and potassium showed negative correlation with the fungal population.