Decomposition of paper de-inking sludge during revegetation of a sandpit minesoil: a reply to the comments of Beyer and Mueller

Abstract

Decomposition of paper de-inking sludge during revegetation of a sandpit minesoil : a reply to the comments of Beyer and Mueller.The objective of our study (Fierro et al., 2000) was to characterise in situ patterns of deinking paper sludge (DPS) decomposition and of N and P accumulation and release, as affected by increasing rates of N and P. The context was to use high loads of DPS to increase the revegetation of an abandoned minesoil (sand pit). We concluded that DPS presented a particularly large recalcitrant pool decomposing slowly, the remaining mass