The effect of the soil organic status (SOS) on the dynamics and impact of a copper contamination was investigated in a coupled field and mesocosm study with a loamy vineyard soil that had been amended with conifer compost (CC) or not amended (NA) during a previous long-term field experiment. Soil mesocosms were contaminated at 240 mg Cu kg-1 and incubated for 24 months. Cu distribution and dynamics were assessed in the solid matrix at the microscale by size fractionation of soils and in the soil solution by measuring total and free exchangeable copper concentrations (Cu2+). Copper bioavailability, CuBio, was also measured with a whole-cell biosensor. The impact of copper on soil bacterial community was evaluated through the monitoring of the amount of copper-resistant bacteria and through the variations in bacterial community structure using ARISA (Automated-Ribosomal-Intergenic-Spacer-Analysis). Results showed that copper distribution, speciation and bioavailability are strongly different in the NA and CC soils, demonstrating that the organic status of soils largely controls the solid and liquid speciation of copper as well as its availability to microorganisms. Cu was shown to be dominantly distributed in the smallest size fractions (250µm) of the CC soil. The coarser and finest size fractions of the soil are also the ones that release more Cu2+ and CuBio, explaining thus the important amount of Cu-resistant bacteria inhabiting these fractions and the differentiated temporal impact on the structure of soil bacterial community. The distribution of cultivable bacteria varied strongly between the two soils and was found to be well correlated with the distribution of added OM that controls thus bacterial community structure. The preferential impacts of copper observed in the smallest size fractions of the non amended soil demonstrate that copper toxicity and impact is also controlled by the reactivity of the soil fractions. This reactivity controls especially the release and the liquid speciation of Cu and thus bacteria-metal contact. A clear relationship between copper speciation, bioavailability, distribution and impact was established in the present study and will permit better predicting the fate and impact of metals in soils, by accounting for microscale control of metal impact
