Restoration of Ecosystem Function by Soil Surface Inoculation with Biocrust in Mesic and Xeric Alpine Ecosystems

2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 101-112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annie-Claude Letendre ◽  
Darwyn S. Coxson ◽  
Katherine J. Stewart
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Function ◽  
Soil Surface ◽  
Alpine Ecosystems

scholarly journals Microbial Biobanking Cyanobacteria-rich topsoil facilitates mine rehabilitation

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wendy Williams ◽  
Mel Schneemilch ◽  
Angela Chilton ◽  
Stephen Williams ◽  
Brett Neilan
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Function ◽  
Effective Means ◽  
Monitoring Program ◽  
Soil Microbial Communities ◽  
Soil Surface ◽  
Arid Environment ◽  
Soil Restoration ◽  
Soil Microbial ◽  
Community Profiling ◽  
Mining Rehabilitation

Abstract. Mining rehabilitation requires key solutions to complex issues relating to ecosystem function. In arid landscapes, the removal or disturbance of topsoil incorporating soil microbial communities can result in a shift in ecosystem function. Soil surfaces in arid regions are protected by biocrusts that regulate soil moisture, sequester carbon and fix significant quantities of atmospheric nitrogen. Cyanobacteria often dominate these bioactive surfaces and work as ecosystem engineers in that they are in sufficiently large quantities they initiate biocrust establishment and facilitate soil surface stabilisation. Cyanobacterial exopolymeric secretions form cohesive and protective layers at the soil surface that minimise wind erosion. This research encompassed soil microbial community profiling (using a polyphasic approach) with a focus on biobanking topsoil for rehabilitation purposes. The research was in collaboration with Iluka Resources at Jacinth–Ambrosia (J–A) mineral sand mine located in a semi-arid chenopod shrubland in southern Australia. At J–A diverse biocrusts included a significant representation of cyanobacteria, lichens and mosses that inhabited nearly half of all soil surfaces. Cyanobacterial community structure at J–A was comprised of a variety of species having a range of attributes that contributed to their resilience and survival in an arid environment. Stockpiling from shallow scrapings and storage at low profiles appeared beneficial in microbial biobanking cyanobacterial inoculum that would facilitate recovery over time. These studies have provided information for the establishment of a monitoring program that assesses the re-establishment of biocrusts following mining. Following soil stockpiling that occurred during the mining process, cyanobacterial taxa recovered at different rates. Cyanobacterial strategies central to survival include exopolymeric production, spectral adaptation, nitrogen fixation and motility. Biocrust re-establishment during mining rehabilitation relies on the role of cyanobacteria as a means of early soil stabilisation. Provided there is adequate cyanobacterial inoculum in the topsoil stockpiles their growth and the subsequent crust formation should take place largely unassisted. Ongoing monitoring of biocrust recovery is important as it provides an effective means of measuring important soil restoration processes.

Modelling the mineralisation of plant residues on the soil surface

Agronomie ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 22 (7-8) ◽  
pp. 711-722 ◽  
Author(s):  
Axel Berkenkamp ◽  
Eckart Priesack ◽  
Jean Charles Munch
Keyword(s):  
Soil Surface ◽  
Plant Residues

Status and development prospects of standard means for reproducing units of volumetric activity of radon and thoron and radon flux density from the soil surface

2020 ◽  
pp. 69-73
Author(s):  
S.G. Birjukov ◽  
O.I. Kovalenko ◽  
A.A. Orlov
Keyword(s):  
Flux Density ◽  
Soil Surface ◽  
National Standards ◽  
Measuring Instruments ◽  
Volumetric Activity ◽  
Standard Means ◽  
Radon Flux ◽  
Technical Solutions ◽  
Development Prospects ◽  
Physical Principles

The approach to creating standard means for reproducing units of volumetric activity of radon and thoron and flux density of radon from the soil surface is described based on the physical principles of reproducing these units of quantities and using as technical means for reproducing bubblers with a radioactive solution of radium salt, reference capacities of known volume, emanation chambers for generation of a toron, a gamma spectrometer with a semiconductor detector from highly pure germanium and radon radiometers. Reproduction consists in the physical realization of units in accordance with their definition as applied to the formation of radon and thoron in the radioactive rows of radium and thorium. The proposed approach will allow to determine the structural, structural and other technical solutions of standard measuring instruments, as well as specific techniques and methods of working with them. The creation of standard tools and technologies for reproducing units of volumetric activity of radon and thoron and the density of radon flux from the soil surface will ensure the unity and reliability of measurements in the field of ionizing radiation, traceability of units and bringing the characteristics of national standards in line with world achievements.

Dominance determines fish community biomass in a temperate seagrass ecosystem

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aaron Matthius Eger ◽  
Rebecca J. Best ◽  
Julia Kathleen Baum
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Ecosystem Function ◽  
Fish Community ◽  
Prey Capture ◽  
Fish Communities ◽  
Functional Trait ◽  
Ecosystem Functions ◽  
Community Biomass ◽  
Ecosystem Valuation ◽  
Species Abundances

Biodiversity and ecosystem function are often correlated, but there are multiple hypotheses about the mechanisms underlying this relationship. Ecosystem functions such as primary or secondary production may be maximized by species richness, evenness in species abundances, or the presence or dominance of species with certain traits. Here, we combined surveys of natural fish communities (conducted in July and August, 2016) with morphological trait data to examine relationships between diversity and ecosystem function (quantified as fish community biomass) across 14 subtidal eelgrass meadows in the Northeast Pacific (54° N 130° W). We employed both taxonomic and functional trait measures of diversity to investigate if ecosystem function is driven by species diversity (complementarity hypothesis) or by the presence or dominance of species with particular trait values (selection or dominance hypotheses). After controlling for environmental variation, we found that fish community biomass is maximized when taxonomic richness and functional evenness is low, and in communities dominated by species with particular trait values – those associated with benthic habitats and prey capture. While previous work on fish communities has found that species richness is positively correlated with ecosystem function, our results instead highlight the capacity for regionally prevalent and locally dominant species to drive ecosystem function in moderately diverse communities. We discuss these alternate links between community composition and ecosystem function and consider their divergent implications for ecosystem valuation and conservation prioritization.

REHABILITATION OF THE SOIL STRUCTURE WITH THE DIRECT SOWING IN THE STAVROPOL REGION DRY ZONE

1970 ◽  
pp. 27-31
Author(s):  
V. P. Belobrov ◽  
S. А. Yudin ◽  
V. А. Kholodov ◽  
N. V. Yaroslavtseva ◽  
N. R. Ermolaev ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cover Crops ◽  
Soil Surface ◽  
Plant Residues ◽  
Agricultural Technologies ◽  
Row Crops ◽  
Dry Zone ◽  
Erosion Effect ◽  
Stavropol Region ◽  
Dry Conditions ◽  
Direct Sowing

The influence of different systems of soil cultivation is considered - traditional (recommended) technology and direct sowing, which is increasingly used under dry conditions of the region. The rehabilitation of the degraded southern chernozems and dark chestnut soils structure during 13 and 7 years of direct sowing, respectively, has not been established. It takes much longer to rehabilitation the aggregate state of soils, which is currently in a critical condition of the content of aggregates> 10 mm in size and the sum of agronomically valuable aggregates. The soils under 60-year treeline, as a control, showed a satisfactory range of aggregates, which indicates a high degree of soil degradation in the past and a long period of their recovery time. The effectiveness of direct sowing usage in the cultivation of a wider range of grain and row crops (winter wheat, sunflower, peas, chickpeas, rapeseed, buckwheat, corn) is due to the peculiarities of agricultural technologies. Abandoning of naked fallows and soil treatments with the simultaneous use of plant residues and cover crops on the soil surface between the harvest and sowing of winter crops provides an anti-erosion effect and, as a consequence, a decrease in physical evaporation, an increase in moisture and biota reserves, an increase in microbiological processes, which are noted in the form trends in improving the agrochemical and agrophysical properties of soils.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document