Atrazine is an environmentally persistent herbicide of global concern due to its low biodegradability in soil and its high potential to contaminate surface water and groundwater. This study investigated the effects of atrazine on soil algal communities under different soil types, temperature regimes, and nutrient amendments. Five laboratory incubation experiments were conducted using soils collected from Algeraif (Blue Nile Bank) and Gerif (River Nile Bank), Khartoum, Sudan. Soils were treated with atrazine at the recommended field dose (0.0678 mg g −1 soil) and at 25×, 50×, and 75× higher concentrations, incubated at 28°C and 40°C, with or without NPK fertilizer or maize straw amendments, and monitored over a 150‐day period. The results found that 13 algal species were isolated from control soils, including 10 cyanobacteria and three green algae; Gerif soil supported higher algal diversity (13 species) than Algeraif soil (10 species). Atrazine application caused complete inhibition of soil algal occurrence across all concentrations and incubation periods, including the field dose. Increasing the incubation temperature from 28°C to 40°C did not significantly influence algal recovery. Although NPK and maize residue amendments enhanced algal diversity in untreated soils, they did not mitigate atrazine toxicity. These findings demonstrate the high sensitivity of soil algal communities to atrazine and highlight the limited buffering capacity of soil type, temperature, and nutrient amendments against herbicide‐induced ecological disturbance.
Elgaber et al. (Thu,) studied this question.