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Effects of Catfish Aquaculture Effluents on Soil Physicochemical Properties and Microbial Community Structure in Peri-Urban Agricultural Soils of Owerri, Southeastern Nigeria

Ekotogbo D., Nwachukwu J. I., Ejiogu C. C.

Abstract

Intensive catfish (Clariasgariepinus) aquaculture in peri-urban Owerri, southeastern Nigeria, generates nutrient-rich effluents that are routinely discharged onto adjacent farmland, yet the consequences for tropical soil chemistry and microbiology remain poorly documented. This study characterized catfish pond effluents from six farms and compared soil physicochemical properties and bacterial community composition between effluent- treated soils and three unexposed control sites in Owerri Municipal. Effluents were near- neutral to slightly alkaline (pH 6.72-7.58) and moderately loaded with nitrogen (18.4-52.7 mg/L), phosphorus (2.47-7.89 mg/L) and organic matter (BOD/COD ratio 0.51). Relative to controls, effluent-treated surface soils (0-10 cm) showed significantly higher pH (6.18 versus 5.48), electrical conductivity, organic matter (+48%), total nitrogen (+66%), available phosphorus (nearly threefold), exchangeable bases and cation exchange capacity (+39%), while heavy metals (Pb, Cd, Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn) remained below international safe limits for agricultural soils. High-throughput 16S rRNA gene sequencing of 45 soil samples revealed that effluent application significantly reduced bacterial alpha diversity (19% reduction in observed amplicon sequence variants; p < 0.001) and restructured community composition, with copiotrophicProteobacteria, Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes expanding at the expense of oligotrophic Acidobacteria, Chloroflexi, Verrucomicrobia and Planctomycetes. Soil pH, total nitrogen and available phosphorus were the strongest correlates of community dissimilarity (Mantel r = 0.57, 0.52 and 0.49, respectively; p < 0.001). These findings show that catfish effluent application confers clear short-term fertility benefits in acidic, weathered tropical soils but simultaneously simplifies soil microbial communities, indicating a fertility-diversity trade-off that should inform effluent management guidelines, extension advice and environmental policy for peri-urban aquaculture-agriculture integration in sub-Saharan Africa.

Keywords

aquaculture effluent; soil physicochemical properties; soil microbial diversity; 16S rRNA sequencing; peri-urban agriculture; Clariasgariepinus; tropical soils; Nigeria

References

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