Stockpiling disrupts the biological integrity of topsoil for ecological restoration
Purpose: Biotic and abiotic properties of soils can hinder or facilitate ecological restoration, and management practices that impact edaphic factors can strongly influence plant growth and restoration outcomes. Salvaged topsoil is an invaluable resource for mine-site restoration, and a common pract...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
SPRINGER
2022
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/IC150100041 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/88494 |
| _version_ | 1848765025919959040 |
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| author | Valliere, Justin D’Agui, Haylee Dixon, Kingsley Nevill, Paul Wong, Wei San Zhong, Hongtao Veneklaas, E.J. |
| author_facet | Valliere, Justin D’Agui, Haylee Dixon, Kingsley Nevill, Paul Wong, Wei San Zhong, Hongtao Veneklaas, E.J. |
| author_sort | Valliere, Justin |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Purpose: Biotic and abiotic properties of soils can hinder or facilitate ecological restoration, and management practices that impact edaphic factors can strongly influence plant growth and restoration outcomes. Salvaged topsoil is an invaluable resource for mine-site restoration, and a common practice is topsoil transfer from mined areas to restoration sites. However, direct transfer is often not feasible, necessitating storage in stockpiles. We evaluated the effects of topsoil stockpiling on plant performance across diverse ecosystems impacted by mining throughout Western Australia.
Methods: We conducted a bioassay experiment using a widespread native Acacia species to assess how topsoil storage might impact plant growth, physiology, and nodulation by N-fixing bacteria using soils from native reference vegetation and stockpiled soils from six mine sites across Western Australia.
Results: Plant responses varied across mine sites, but overall plants performed better in soils collected from native vegetation, exhibiting greater biomass, more root nodules, and higher water-use efficiency compared to those grown in stockpiled soils. Soil physiochemistry showed few and minor differences between native soils and stockpiles.
Conclusion: Results strongly suggest observed differences in plant performance were biotic in nature. This study highlights the negative effects of topsoil storage on the biological integrity of soil across diverse ecosystems, with important implications for mine-site restoration; our results show that topsoil management can strongly influence plant performance, and stockpiled soils are likely inferior to recently disturbed topsoil for restoration purposes. We also use this study to illustrate the utility of bioassays for assessing soil quality for ecological restoration. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:28:42Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-88494 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:28:42Z |
| publishDate | 2022 |
| publisher | SPRINGER |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-884942022-06-09T03:29:57Z Stockpiling disrupts the biological integrity of topsoil for ecological restoration Valliere, Justin D’Agui, Haylee Dixon, Kingsley Nevill, Paul Wong, Wei San Zhong, Hongtao Veneklaas, E.J. Science & Technology Life Sciences & Biomedicine Agronomy Plant Sciences Soil Science Agriculture Ecological indicators Phytometers Plant-soil interactions Soil microbial communities Mine-site restoration SOIL ORGANIC-MATTER JARRAH FOREST BAUXITE MINES STORAGE COMMUNITIES RECRUITMENT PHOSPHORUS RECOVERY IMPACT LANDS Purpose: Biotic and abiotic properties of soils can hinder or facilitate ecological restoration, and management practices that impact edaphic factors can strongly influence plant growth and restoration outcomes. Salvaged topsoil is an invaluable resource for mine-site restoration, and a common practice is topsoil transfer from mined areas to restoration sites. However, direct transfer is often not feasible, necessitating storage in stockpiles. We evaluated the effects of topsoil stockpiling on plant performance across diverse ecosystems impacted by mining throughout Western Australia. Methods: We conducted a bioassay experiment using a widespread native Acacia species to assess how topsoil storage might impact plant growth, physiology, and nodulation by N-fixing bacteria using soils from native reference vegetation and stockpiled soils from six mine sites across Western Australia. Results: Plant responses varied across mine sites, but overall plants performed better in soils collected from native vegetation, exhibiting greater biomass, more root nodules, and higher water-use efficiency compared to those grown in stockpiled soils. Soil physiochemistry showed few and minor differences between native soils and stockpiles. Conclusion: Results strongly suggest observed differences in plant performance were biotic in nature. This study highlights the negative effects of topsoil storage on the biological integrity of soil across diverse ecosystems, with important implications for mine-site restoration; our results show that topsoil management can strongly influence plant performance, and stockpiled soils are likely inferior to recently disturbed topsoil for restoration purposes. We also use this study to illustrate the utility of bioassays for assessing soil quality for ecological restoration. 2022 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/88494 10.1007/s11104-021-05217-z English http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/IC150100041 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ SPRINGER fulltext |
| spellingShingle | Science & Technology Life Sciences & Biomedicine Agronomy Plant Sciences Soil Science Agriculture Ecological indicators Phytometers Plant-soil interactions Soil microbial communities Mine-site restoration SOIL ORGANIC-MATTER JARRAH FOREST BAUXITE MINES STORAGE COMMUNITIES RECRUITMENT PHOSPHORUS RECOVERY IMPACT LANDS Valliere, Justin D’Agui, Haylee Dixon, Kingsley Nevill, Paul Wong, Wei San Zhong, Hongtao Veneklaas, E.J. Stockpiling disrupts the biological integrity of topsoil for ecological restoration |
| title | Stockpiling disrupts the biological integrity of topsoil for ecological restoration |
| title_full | Stockpiling disrupts the biological integrity of topsoil for ecological restoration |
| title_fullStr | Stockpiling disrupts the biological integrity of topsoil for ecological restoration |
| title_full_unstemmed | Stockpiling disrupts the biological integrity of topsoil for ecological restoration |
| title_short | Stockpiling disrupts the biological integrity of topsoil for ecological restoration |
| title_sort | stockpiling disrupts the biological integrity of topsoil for ecological restoration |
| topic | Science & Technology Life Sciences & Biomedicine Agronomy Plant Sciences Soil Science Agriculture Ecological indicators Phytometers Plant-soil interactions Soil microbial communities Mine-site restoration SOIL ORGANIC-MATTER JARRAH FOREST BAUXITE MINES STORAGE COMMUNITIES RECRUITMENT PHOSPHORUS RECOVERY IMPACT LANDS |
| url | http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/IC150100041 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/88494 |