In this study we evaluated the short-term effects of copper, cadmium, and mercury, added singly or in combination at different doses, on soil bacterial community structure using the bacterial automated ribosomal intergenic spacer analysis (B-ARISA) fingerprinting technique. Principal-component analysis of B-ARISA profiles allowed us to deduce the following order of impact: (Cu + Cd + Hg) >> Hg ≥ Cd > Cu. These results demonstrated that there was a cumulative effect of metal toxicity. Furthermore, the trend of modifications was consistent with the “hump-backed” relationships between biological diversity and disturbance described by Giller et al. (K. E. Giller, E. Witler, and S. P. McGrath, Soil Biol. Biochem. 30:1389-1414, 1998).
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