Defining the biological and physicochemical parameters in soil under illegally dumping sites provides information on the real threat and the direction of changes in the soil environment. The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of uncontrolled dump sites which differed in the composition of the waste deposited on the development of selected groups of soil microorganisms and the activity of redox enzymes and selected physicochemical soil parameters. Additionally, it was verified whether the biological and physicochemical parameters differ in soil depending on the depth (0–20 and 20–40 cm). The research covered three waste landfill sites (W1, W2, W3), the arable field (A) found in the zone of the effect of the dumping site as well as the control point (C). The microbiological analyses show that most amylolytic microorganisms (87.0 × 10⁵ cfu), celullolytic (46.4 × 10⁵ cfu), proteolytic (148.6 × 10⁵ cfu) and bacteria in total (123.2 × 10⁵ cfu) were isolated from the surface later of control soil (C), and definitely least—from the area of dumping sites W1 and W2. The waste accumulated in W1 and W2 led to the soil depletion in organic matter, inhibited the development of microorganisms and their enzymatic activity. The soil under landfill site W3 showed the highest values recorded for physicochemical properties, the count of Actinobacteria, as well as the activity of dehydrogenases and catalase. The concentration of heavy metals in soil under landfill site W3 was even tenfold higher than the values recorded at the other measurement points, which must have been due to the effect of the type of the waste dumped in landfill site W3, where biodegradable waste of organic origin dominated. Disturbing the biological control and unfavourable changes in the microbiocenotic composition were mostly revealed in soil at landfill site W1.

The study aimed to evaluate the total content and bioavailable forms of Zn, Cu, Pb and Ni and enzymatic activity (nitro reductase and peroxidases) in the mineral levels of surface soils within the zone of influence of various tree species. The conducted variance analysis confirmed the significant impact of the studied tree habitats on the total content and bioavailable forms of metals and on enzymatic activity. The total content of analysed metals were low and in no case exceeded the possible concentrations. The high bioavailability (AF %) values calculated for habitats of different species compositions (of 53.78% for Zn, 76.82% for Cu, 60.81% for Pb and 44.72% for Ni) may pose a risk of accumulation of these metals in plants. A significant correlation was found between nitrate reduction activity and Pb content (r = 0.510) and Cu (r = 0.678). Principal component analysis allowed two principal components to be distinguished (PC1 and PC2) that accounted for 60.95% of the total change in variance.

The study objective was to determine the relationship of selected enzyme activities with carbon sequestration and N, P, K, Mg, Zn and Cu contents in Phaeozem soils. Soil samples were taken from a 10 ha area. A selection of their physical and chemical properties and the contents of the available forms of selected macro- and microelements were determined. The activities of dehydrogenases (DEH), catalase (CAT), peroxidases (PER), alkaline (AlP) and acid (AcP) phosphatase, β-glucosidase (BG) and proteases (PR) were also determined. The relationship between enzymatic soil fertility indices (AlP/AcP, BIF, GMea, TEI, BA12 and BA13) and selected soil parameters was also determined. The research used principal component analysis (PCA) to distinguish significantly correlated parameters of a Phaeozem used for agricultural purposes. The study area showed low TOC and K contents and average P and Mg contents. Significant positive correlations were found between the TOC content and activity of the tested enzymes, evidencing that soil enzymes are an important parameter in carbon sequestration and soil nutrient dynamics.

Urban soils usually comprise a mosaic of various types and usually present with elevated contents of heavy metals. This is due to their long-term accumulation in the soil, which is ensured by the continuous emission of pollutants, including from road traffic. The aim of this study was to estimate the impact of traffic pollution on the state of the soil environment using a phytoindicator (Teraxacum officinale). The contents of selected heavy metals in the soil and dandelion organs and the activities of selected redox enzymes in the soil in the vicinity of a busy city road were determined. The degree and direction of the movement of heavy metal ions in plants were assessed using the translocation factor (TF) and bioaccumulation factor (BCF). Selected indicators (AF—absorption factor, CF—contamination factor, EF—enrichment factor, PN—Nemerow’s pollution index, PLI—pollutant load index) were used to determine possible heavy metal contamination in soils, and the adaptation mechanisms of dandelion were evaluated by assessing selected enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidising systems. The research results confirmed that the proximity of a busy street reduced the enzymatic activity of the soil and increased the content of heavy metals in the soil and in dandelion. The heavy metal content levels did not exceed the permissible standards for soils in communication areas. The indicators used did not provide a clear answer as to the degree of anthropogenic contamination with individual metals. The higher contents of the metals in question in the above-ground parts of plants suggest that they may be caused by the impact of atmospheric pollution and not by the metal contents in the soil.

The present research aimed to assess the influence of illegal dumping on changes in the content of phosphorus and its relationship with selected chemical properties. Soil was sampled from two horizons: 0–20 and 20–40 cm. Samples from points W1, W2 and W3 (waste 1, 2 and 3) were collected directly from under illegally deposited landfill sites that differed in the morphological composition. At a distance of 30 m from landfill W3 there were agricultural lands where maize was cultivated (arable soil, AS). The control point (C) was located far from the waste landfill sites determined and beyond the range of their effect. In soil the following were determined: total organic carbon, phosphorus (total, organic, mineral, available, active), the microbiological activity, the content of heavy metals and the activity of alkaline and acid phosphatase. The study concluded that the composition of treatments W1 and W2 had a more negative impact on the soils than landfill site W3. The results show that the changes depended on the type of the waste deposited. In AS and landfills W3 there was observed a high P availability and count of bacteria. The results have shown that an addition of organic residues to soil has a variety of effects on microbial and phosphatase activities. The lowest resistance (RS) for alkaline and acid phosphatases was found in soil from the area of dumping sites W1 and W2; the highest RS was determined in AS. Statistical analyses of simple correlations showed clearly that microbiological populations were also particularly implicated in the activity of phosphomonoesterases.

The paper evaluates the contents of total forms of selected heavy metals (Zn, Cu, Ni and Pb) as well as the activity of catalase (CAT), dehydrogenases (DEH), alkaline phosphatase (AlP) and acid phosphatase (AcP) in mineral surface horizons of forest soils exposed to the effect of road traffic pollutions. The sampling locations (n = 24) were determined in the area covered by the Szubin Forest along the exit road from Bydgoszcz to Poznań (provincial road no. 223). Soil was sampled 25 m away from the traffic lane, from two depths, 5–20 cm (humus horizons) and 20–50 cm (eluvial horizons). The contents of the heavy metals analysed were in the order of Pb > Zn > Cu > Ni. Despite intensive road traffic, with the Integrated Pollution Index (IPI) calculated, there was found a low pollution with nickel, average with zinc and copper and high with lead only. However, under the Regulation of the Minister of Environment, heavy metal values recorded allow for classifying the soils analysed as soils unpolluted with those metals. In the soil samples analysed, there were found significant positive dependencies between the content of clay fraction and zinc (r = 0.455; P < 0.05) and copper (r = 0.430; P < 0.05). With the enzyme activity results, values of the soil resistance index (RS) were calculated. The enzymes analysed were classified in the following decreasing order in terms of their resistance to traffic pollution: catalase > acid phosphatase > alkaline phosphatase > dehydrogenases (humus horizons) and catalase > dehydrogenases > alkaline phosphatase > acid phosphatase (eluvial horizons). Organic carbon showed a significant positive correlation with the activities of alkaline (r = 0.668; P < 0.05) and acid phosphatase (r = 0.668; P < 0.05) however not with catalase and dehydrogenases.