Anthropedogenesis in coal mine overburden; the need for a comprehensive, fundamental biogeochemical approach

Gunathunga, Samadhi U.; Gagen, Emma J.; Evans, Paul N.; Erskine, Peter D.; Southam, Gordon

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.164515

Cited by 13 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 197 publications

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“…It is crucial to test the compatibility between the microorganisms and plants because in the context of ecological restoration, the microorganisms will be introduced to a diversity of plant species, unlike agricultural monoculture applications. Whether generic commercial inoculants will confer sufficient benefits for rehabilitation or restoration remains unknown—a potentially more effective strategy could be to develop site-specific inoculants by culturing microorganisms found in the same or similar environment, such as reference sites ( Remke et al., 2020 ; Solans et al ., 2021 ; Gunathunga et al., 2023 ). Re-establishing soil health by reintroducing and enhancing microbial diversity and biomass has great potential, but inoculation with ineffective, incompatible or even detrimental microbes could be wasteful and counterproductive.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Limited efficacy of a commercial microbial inoculant for improving growth and physiological performance of native plant species

Wong,

Ruscalleda-Alvarez,

Yong

et al. 2024

Conservation Physiology

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Soil microbial inoculants are increasingly being explored as means to improve soil conditions to facilitate ecological restoration. In southwestern Western Australia, highly biodiverse Banksia woodland plant communities are increasingly threatened by various factors including climate change, land development and mining. Banksia woodland restoration is necessary to conserve this plant community. The use of microbial inoculation in Banksia woodland restoration has not yet been investigated. Here, we evaluated the efficacy of a commercial microbial inoculant (GOGO Juice, Neutrog Australia Pty Ltd) for improving the performance of 10 ecologically diverse Banksia woodland plant species in a pot experiment. Plants were subjected to one of two watering regimes (well-watered and drought) in combination with microbial inoculation treatments (non-inoculated and inoculated). Plants were maintained under these two watering treatments for 10 weeks, at which point plants in all treatments were subjected to a final drought period lasting 8 weeks. Plant performance was evaluated by plant biomass and allocation, gas exchange parameters, foliar carbon and nitrogen and stable isotope (δ15N and δ13C) compositions. Plant xylem sap phytohormones were analysed to investigate the effect of microbial inoculation on plant phytohormone profiles and potential relationships with other observed physiological parameters. Across all investigated plant species, inoculation treatments had small effects on plant growth. Further analysis within each species revealed that inoculation treatments did not result in significant biomass gain under well-watered or drought-stressed conditions, and effects on nitrogen nutrition and photosynthesis were variable and minimal. This suggests that the selected commercial microbial inoculant had limited benefits for the tested plant species. Further investigations on the compatibility between the microorganisms (present in the inoculant) and plants, timing of inoculation, viability of the microorganisms and concentration(s) required to achieve effectiveness, under controlled conditions, and field trials are required to test the feasibility and efficacy in actual restoration environments.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Limited efficacy of a commercial microbial inoculant for improving growth and physiological performance of native plant species

Wong,

Ruscalleda-Alvarez,

Yong

et al. 2024

Conservation Physiology

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“…At this stage, there are not many studies on disturbed mining in open pit mines; most of them focus on the technical aspects and are mainly based on mine land reclamation. Researchers develop various physical [10], chemical, and biological means [11] to restore these mining-disturbed lands to near-pristine conditions [12][13][14][15]. How to seek a balance between economic benefits and environmental protection in the process of resource extraction is an essential requirement for mines to realize green mining.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Integrated Decision Support System for Low-Disturbance Surface Mining

Tao,

Zhang

2024

Applied Sciences

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Low-disturbance mining in surface mining (LDM) can transform traditional surface mine production systems into a more sustainable model by reducing the disturbance of surface mining, minimizing pollutant emissions, and reducing ecological impacts. The purpose of this paper is to explore the LDM evaluation method by applying multi-criteria decision-making to provide technical support for LDM implementation. Therefore, an evaluation method based on the combination of the fuzzy analytical hierarchy process (F-AHP) and grey clustering was proposed. Analyzed in terms of the current status of the evaluation indicators (reality) and the significance of the development of the LDM (desirability). Determined the weights and low-disturbance (LD) levels of the evaluation indicators. Combined with the fuzzy technique for order preference by similarity to an ideal solution (F-TOPSIS), the low-disturbance open pit mining paths are ranked, and finally, the decision support system for low-disturbance mining in surface mining is constructed. This study not only enriches the existing literature on related technologies but also lays the foundation for further research on LDM and provides exploratory insights for deeper improvement of LD level in surface mining.

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Effect of grass species root for enhanced slope protection in amended coalmine overburden dump soil

Kumar,

Das,

Nainegali

et al. 2023

Plant Soil

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Background and AimsSurface protection of coalmine overburden (OB) dumps against shallow slope failures can be achieved through a cost-effective and sustainable solution, i.e., vegetative cover. Hence, small scale study is needed to study the survival, growth performance, and root distribution of plants prior to conducting pilot scale study. MethodsIn the present study, three plant species Dendrocalamus strictus (Bamboo grass), Cymbopogon citratus (Lemon grass), and Chrysopogon zizanioides (Vetiver grass), an endemic grass species are studied for the slope stabilization potential of OB dumps in Jharkhand, India. Growth characteristics and root architecture of grasses grown for ve months under six varying proportions (treatments) of overburden, cow dung, and garden soil were studied. ResultsIt was found that Vetiver grass had the highest root area ratio, followed by Bamboo grass and Lemon grass. The maximum root cohesion was found to be 1 kPa for Bamboo grass, 7.33 kPa for Lemon grass, and 9.24 kPa for Vetiver grass among different treatments. ConclusionsTreatment condition with 80% overburden and 20% cow dung was suggested to be the best soil mix for optimum growth of the chosen grasses which have the potential to mitigating sur cial movement of soil mass on the overburden dumps through root reinforcement.

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Anthropedogenesis in coal mine overburden; the need for a comprehensive, fundamental biogeochemical approach

Cited by 13 publications

References 197 publications

Limited efficacy of a commercial microbial inoculant for improving growth and physiological performance of native plant species

Limited efficacy of a commercial microbial inoculant for improving growth and physiological performance of native plant species

An Integrated Decision Support System for Low-Disturbance Surface Mining

Effect of grass species root for enhanced slope protection in amended coalmine overburden dump soil

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