Combination of artificial zeolite and microbial fertilizer to improve mining soils in an arid area of Inner Mongolia,China

Restoration of mining soils is important to the vegetation and environment.This study aimed to explore the variations in soil nutrient contents,microbial abundance,and biomass under different gradients of substrate amendments in mining soils to select effective measures.Soil samples were collected from the Bayan Obo mining region in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region,China.Contents of soil organic matter(SOM),available nitrogen(AN),available phosphorus(AP),available potassium(AK),microbial biomass carbon/microbial biomass nitrogen(MBC/MBN)ratio,biomass,and bacteria,fungi,and actinomycetes abundance were assessed in Agropyron cristatum L.Gaertn.,Elymus dahuricus Turcz.,and Medicago sativa L.soils with artificial zeolite(AZ)and microbial fertilizer(MF)applied at T0(0 g/kg),T1(5 g/kg),T2(10 g/kg),and T3(20 g/kg).Redundancy analysis(RDA)and technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution(TOPSIS)were used to identify the main factors controlling the variation of biomass.Results showed that chemical indices and microbial content of restored soils were far greater than those of control.The application of AZ significantly increases SOM,AN,and AP by 20.27%,23.61%,and 40.43%,respectively.AZ significantly increased bacteria,fungi,and actinomycetes abundance by 0.63,3.12,and 1.93 times of control,respectively.RDA indicated that AN,MBC/MBN ratio,and SOM were dominant predictors for biomass across samples with AZ application,explaining 87.6%of the biomass variance.SOM,MBC/MBN ratio,and AK were dominant predictors with MF application,explaining 82.9%of the biomass variance.TOPSIS indicated that T2 was the best dosage and the three plant species could all be used to repair mining soils.AZ and MF application at T2 concentration in the mining soils with M.sativa was found to be the most appropriate measure.

Investigating spatial and temporal variations of soil moisture content in an arid mining area using an improved thermal inertia model

Mining operations can usually lead to environmental deteriorations. Underground mining activities could cause an extensive decrease in groundwater level and thus a dramatic variation in soil moisture content（SMC）. In this study, the spatial and temporal variations of SMC from 2001 to 2015 at two spatial scales（i.e., the Shendong coal mining area and the Daliuta Coal Mine） were analyzed using an improved thermal inertia model with a long-term series of Landsat TM/OLI（TM=Thematic Mapper and OLI=Operational Land Imager） data. Our results show that at large spatial scale（the Shendong coal mining area）, underground mining activities had insignificant negative impacts on SMC and that at small spatial scale（the Daliuta Coal Mine）, underground mining activities had significant negative impacts on SMC. Trend analysis of SMC demonstrated that areas with decreasing trend of SMC were mainly distributed in the mined area, indicating that underground mining is a primary cause for the drying trend in the mining region in this arid environment.

Plant growth and nutrient use efficiency of two native Fabaceae species for mineland revegetation in the eastern Amazon

The primary challenge of mineland revegetation is the establishment of species able to cope with low availability of nutrients,especially in steep slopes such as of mine pits.We evaluated plant growth response and nutrient use efficiency(NUE)of two promising native Fabaceae species(Dioclea apurensis—liana from metalliferous savannas;Bauhinia longipedicellata—tree from Amazon rainforest)from the Caraja´s Mineral Province,eastern Amazon-Brazil.Plants were grown separately in 2-kg pots filled with mining waste.Substrates were fertilized with nitrogen,phosphorus,potassium(NPK),lime,and micronutrients.The results showed increments on growth of both species when nutrients were applied to the mining waste.D.apurensis showed increases in leaf area,plant height,stem diameter,and shoot dry mass production when NPK or NPK?micronutrients were applied,while B.longipedicelata was responsive to application of NPK?lime or NPK?lime?micronutrients.Further,D.apurensis showed higher NUE than B.longipedicelata,especially at the lowest doses of N,P and K.These findings may indicate a substantial advantage of D.apurensis for mineland revegetation,as this species may require lower nutrient inputs,being,therefore,a more sustainable way to revegetate degraded areas.

Assessment of compost and three biochars associated with Ailanthus altissima(Miller)Swingle for lead and arsenic stabilization in a post-mining Technosol

The elevated presence of metal(loid)s in the environment significantly impacts ecosystems and human health and is generally largely due to industrial and mining activities.Thus,in the current study,we investigated and proposed an environmentally friendly method(phytomanagement)aimed at reducing the negative impacts associated with metal(loid)pollution through the use of soil amendments(biochar and compost)to permit Ailanthus altissima growth on a highly contaminated mining Technosol,with arsenic(As)and lead(Pb)contents of 539.06 and 11453 mg kg^(-1),respectively.The objective was to examine the impacts of three biochars and compost on i)the physicochemical characteristics of soil,ii)metal(loid)immobilization in soil,and iii)A.altissima growth.We revealed that the application of biochar as a soil amendment improved soil conditions by increasing soil electrical conductivity,pH,and water-holding capacity.Moreover,concomitantly,we observed a large reduction(99%)in Pb mobility and availability following application of the hardwood biochar in combination with compost(HBCP).Thus,this combined soil amendment was most effective in promoting A.altissima growth.In addition,the HBCP treatment prevented As translocation in the upper parts of plants,although soil pore water As concentration was not diminished by amendment application.