Bacillus halophilus BH-8 Combined with Coal Gangue as a Composite Microbial Agent for the Rehabilitation of Saline-Alkali Land

Saline-alkali land represents a crucial reserve of arable land essential for ensuring food security. However, there remains a significant deficiency in converting saline-alkali land into productive cultivated or grazing areas. Microbial agents hold substantial potential for the reclamation of saline-alkali soils. In this study, a moderately halophilic bacterium, Bacillus halophilus BH-8, was screened from coastal saline soil. We combined strain BH-8 with coal gangue to create a composite microbial agent, which was shown to effectively increase the levels of available nitrogen, available phosphorus, available potassium, and organic matter, while reducing the pH value of saline-alkali soils. Moreover, it significantly enhanced the activity of various enzymes and altered the microbial community composition in the soil, notably increasing the abundance of Pseudomonas and Bacteroidota. These results demonstrate the application value of this composite microbial agent for rehabilitating saline-alkali land and highlight the potential of the BH-8 strain as a promising candidate for microbial agent research.