Heavy metals from mica waste not only deteriorate the soil quality but also results in the uptake of metals in the crop. The present investigation was conducted to evaluate the effects of different fractions of metals on the uptake in rice, soil microbial and biochemical properties in mica waste-contaminated soils of Jharkhand, India. From each active mine, soil samples were randomly collected at distances of < 50 m (zone 1), 50-100 m (zone 2), and >100 m (zone 3). Sequential metal extraction was used to determine the fractions of different metals (nickel (Ni), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr) and lead (Pb)) including water-soluble (Ws) and exchangeable metals (Ex), carbonate-bound metals (CBD), Fe/Mn oxide (OXD) bound metals, organically bound metals (ORG), and residues (RS). The Ni, Cr, Cd and Pb in rice grain were 0.83±0.41, 0.41±0.19, 0.21±0.14 and 0.17±0.08 mg/kg respectively. From the variable importance plot of the random forest (RF) algorithm, the Ws fraction of Ni, Cr and Cd and Ex fraction of Pb was the most important predictor for rice grain metal content. Further, the partial dependence plots (PDP) give us an insight into the role of the two most important metal fractions on rice grain metal content. The microbial and enzyme activity was significantly and negatively correlated with Ws and Ex metal fractions, indicating that water-soluble and exchangeable fractions exert a strong inhibitory effect on the soil microbiological parameters and enzyme activities.
Keywords: Metal fractions; Mica waste soil; Microbial parameters; Random forest; Rice; Soil enzymes.
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