High rock content enhances plant resistance to drought in saline topsoils

Successful mine site restoration in semi-arid regions is limited by availability of topsoil and water, and saline soils are a common feature of these regions and pose an additional stressor to vegetation establishment. We tested the growth and development of a salt-tolerant species on saline topsoil...

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Main Authors: Lison, Christine, Cross, Adam, Stevens, Jason, Valliere, Justin, Dixon, Kingsley, Veneklaas, Erik
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: ACADEMIC PRESS LTD- ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD 2021
Subjects:
Online Access:http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/IC150100041
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/87130
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author Lison, Christine
Cross, Adam
Stevens, Jason
Valliere, Justin
Dixon, Kingsley
Veneklaas, Erik
author_facet Lison, Christine
Cross, Adam
Stevens, Jason
Valliere, Justin
Dixon, Kingsley
Veneklaas, Erik
author_sort Lison, Christine
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Successful mine site restoration in semi-arid regions is limited by availability of topsoil and water, and saline soils are a common feature of these regions and pose an additional stressor to vegetation establishment. We tested the growth and development of a salt-tolerant species on saline topsoil incorporating 25%, 50%, 75% and 88% waste rock, examining soil water content and plant water use to determine how waste rock content affected plant-water relations, growth and development. Under well-watered conditions higher percentages of waste rock lowered the volumetric water content of the total soil mix, causing a reduction in stomatal conductance. Under drought conditions, higher waste rock content reduced rates of water loss and allowed stomatal conductance to be maintained over a longer period. There was no significant or optimal relationship between waste rock content and plant growth, indicating that the addition of waste rock to topsoil has complex effects on plant-water relations and growth. We demonstrate that augmentation of limited topsoil resources with waste rock is a promising option for improving plant resistance to drought in mine site restoration.
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format Journal Article
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institution Curtin University Malaysia
institution_category Local University
language English
last_indexed 2025-11-14T11:26:40Z
publishDate 2021
publisher ACADEMIC PRESS LTD- ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
recordtype eprints
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-871302023-07-20T02:42:46Z High rock content enhances plant resistance to drought in saline topsoils Lison, Christine Cross, Adam Stevens, Jason Valliere, Justin Dixon, Kingsley Veneklaas, Erik Science & Technology Life Sciences & Biomedicine Ecology Environmental Sciences Environmental Sciences & Ecology Drought stress Mine restoration Plant water use Plant growth Salinity Topsoil Waste rock WATER-RETENTION SOIL-SALINITY FRAGMENTS BIOMASS STORAGE IMPACT GROWTH Successful mine site restoration in semi-arid regions is limited by availability of topsoil and water, and saline soils are a common feature of these regions and pose an additional stressor to vegetation establishment. We tested the growth and development of a salt-tolerant species on saline topsoil incorporating 25%, 50%, 75% and 88% waste rock, examining soil water content and plant water use to determine how waste rock content affected plant-water relations, growth and development. Under well-watered conditions higher percentages of waste rock lowered the volumetric water content of the total soil mix, causing a reduction in stomatal conductance. Under drought conditions, higher waste rock content reduced rates of water loss and allowed stomatal conductance to be maintained over a longer period. There was no significant or optimal relationship between waste rock content and plant growth, indicating that the addition of waste rock to topsoil has complex effects on plant-water relations and growth. We demonstrate that augmentation of limited topsoil resources with waste rock is a promising option for improving plant resistance to drought in mine site restoration. 2021 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/87130 10.1016/j.jaridenv.2021.104589 English http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/IC150100041 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ ACADEMIC PRESS LTD- ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD fulltext
spellingShingle Science & Technology
Life Sciences & Biomedicine
Ecology
Environmental Sciences
Environmental Sciences & Ecology
Drought stress
Mine restoration
Plant water use
Plant growth
Salinity
Topsoil
Waste rock
WATER-RETENTION
SOIL-SALINITY
FRAGMENTS
BIOMASS
STORAGE
IMPACT
GROWTH
Lison, Christine
Cross, Adam
Stevens, Jason
Valliere, Justin
Dixon, Kingsley
Veneklaas, Erik
High rock content enhances plant resistance to drought in saline topsoils
title High rock content enhances plant resistance to drought in saline topsoils
title_full High rock content enhances plant resistance to drought in saline topsoils
title_fullStr High rock content enhances plant resistance to drought in saline topsoils
title_full_unstemmed High rock content enhances plant resistance to drought in saline topsoils
title_short High rock content enhances plant resistance to drought in saline topsoils
title_sort high rock content enhances plant resistance to drought in saline topsoils
topic Science & Technology
Life Sciences & Biomedicine
Ecology
Environmental Sciences
Environmental Sciences & Ecology
Drought stress
Mine restoration
Plant water use
Plant growth
Salinity
Topsoil
Waste rock
WATER-RETENTION
SOIL-SALINITY
FRAGMENTS
BIOMASS
STORAGE
IMPACT
GROWTH
url http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/IC150100041
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/87130