Reclamation of the Enugu Coal Mine Site at Abandonment

Mining of coal (fossil fuel) resources in Enugu resulted in groundwater pollution/depletion and left the mine site with the potentials of air pollution, loss of landscape/aesthetic degradation and soil contamination. Other Environmental impacts were extensive soil damage, alteration in microbial communities and affecting vegetation leading to destruction of vast amounts of land and displacement of dwellers. Reclamation is the process to restore the ecological integrity of these disturbed mine land areas. It includes the management of all types of physical, chemical and biological disturbances of soils such as soil pH, fertility, microbial community and various soil nutrient cycles that makes the degraded land soil productive. Mining does not mean permanent loss of land for other use. On the other hand it holds potential for altered and improved use apart from restoring for agriculture, forestry and irrigation. This paper attempts to view the best practices for reclaiming the abandoned Enugu coal mine site which ceased production since 2002.

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Role of Litter Turnover in Soil Quality in Tropical Degraded Lands of Colombia

The Scientific World JOURNAL ◽

10.1155/2014/693981 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 2014 ◽

pp. 1-11 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

Juan D. León ◽

Nelson W. Osorio

Keyword(s):

Soil Quality ◽

Soil Nutrient ◽

Nutrient Content ◽

Soil Productivity ◽

Litter Production ◽

Nutrient Cycles ◽

Land Restoration ◽

Degraded Land ◽

Forestry Plantations

Land degradation is the result of soil mismanagement that reduces soil productivity and environmental services. An alternative to improve degraded soils through reactivation of biogeochemical nutrient cycles (via litter production and decomposition) is the establishment of active restoration models using new forestry plantations, agroforestry, and silvopastoral systems. On the other hand, passive models of restoration consist of promoting natural successional processes with native plants. The objective in this review is to discuss the role of litter production and decomposition as a key strategy to reactivate biogeochemical nutrient cycles and thus improve soil quality in degraded land of the tropics. For this purpose the results of different projects of land restoration in Colombia are presented based on the dynamics of litter production, nutrient content, and decomposition. The results indicate that in only 6–13 years it is possible to detect soil properties improvements due to litter fall and decomposition. Despite that, low soil nutrient availability, particularly of N and P, seems to be major constraint to reclamation of these fragile ecosystems.

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Rice-Residue Management Practices of Smallholder Farms in Vietnam and Their Effects on Nutrient Fluxes in the Soil-Plant System

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su11061641 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (6) ◽

pp. 1641 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Dao Trong Hung ◽

Harold Hughes ◽

Markus Keck ◽

Daniela Sauer

Keyword(s):

Crop Residue ◽

Management Practices ◽

Nutrient Balance ◽

Soil Nutrient ◽

Residue Management ◽

Nutrient Cycles ◽

Nutrient Balances ◽

Smallholder Farms ◽

Direct Incorporation ◽

Rice Residues

In Vietnam, approximately 39 million tons of rice (Oryza sativa) residues accrue every year. In this study, we quantified soil nutrient balances of paddy rice fields under different crop-residue management practices in northern Vietnam. On twelve farms, we calculated nutrient balances for the four prevalent rice-residue management practices, i.e., (1) direct incorporation of rice residues into the soil, (2) application of rice-residue compost, (3) burning of rice residues on the field, and (4) the use of rice residues as fodder for livestock. Soils under practices (1) to (3) showed a positive nutrient balance, which indicates that soil fertility can be maintained under these practices and that the amounts of chemical fertilizers can be considerably reduced. If not, there is a risk of eutrophication in the surrounding surface waterbodies. Practice (4), in contrast, resulted in a negative nutrient balance, which indicates the need for returning nutrients to the soils. From our findings we conclude that knowledge about the effects of rice-residue management practices on nutrient cycles may help to optimize the use of fertilizers, resulting in a more sustainable form of agriculture.

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Soil nutrient cycles as a nonlinear dynamical system

Nonlinear Processes in Geophysics ◽

10.5194/npg-11-589-2004 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 11 (5/6) ◽

pp. 589-598 ◽

Cited By ~ 35

Author(s):

S. Manzoni ◽

A. Porporato ◽

P. D'Odorico ◽

F. Laio ◽

I. Rodriguez-Iturbe

Keyword(s):

Dynamical System ◽

Initial Conditions ◽

Nonlinear Dynamical System ◽

Soil Nutrient ◽

Steady State Solution ◽

Basins Of Attraction ◽

Climatic Conditions ◽

Stable Node ◽

Nutrient Cycles ◽

Stable Focus

Abstract. An analytical model for the soil carbon and nitrogen cycles is studied from the dynamical system point of view. Its main nonlinearities and feedbacks are analyzed by considering the steady state solution under deterministic hydro-climatic conditions. It is shown that, changing hydro-climatic conditions, the system undergoes dynamical bifurcations, shifting from a stable focus to a stable node and back to a stable focus when going from dry, to well-watered, and then to saturated conditions, respectively. An alternative degenerate solution is also found in cases when the system can not sustain decomposition under steady external conditions. Different basins of attraction for "normal" and "degenerate" solutions are investigated as a function of the system initial conditions. Although preliminary and limited to the specific form of the model, the present analysis points out the importance of nonlinear dynamics in the soil nutrient cycles and their possible complex response to hydro-climatic forcing.

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Evaluating soil quality and bioefficacy study of Cajanus cajan L. in coal mine-degraded land

TURKISH JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY ◽

10.3906/tar-1406-21 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 40 ◽

pp. 499-511 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Shrabani SEN ◽

Vipin KUMAR

Keyword(s):

Soil Quality ◽

Coal Mine ◽

Cajanus Cajan ◽

Degraded Land

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Evaluating the Effect of Bacterial Inoculation and Fertilization on the Soil Nutrient Status of Coal Mine Soil by Growing Soybean (Glycine max) and Shrub Lespedeza (Lespedeza bicolor)

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su10124793 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 10 (12) ◽

pp. 4793 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Chang-Seob Shin ◽

Md. Sharif ◽

Hwa-Yong Lee

Keyword(s):

Glycine Max ◽

Coal Mining ◽

Coal Mine ◽

Soil Nutrient ◽

Dry Weight ◽

Nutrient Status ◽

Mine Soil ◽

Bacterial Inoculation ◽

Soil Nutrient Status ◽

Lespedeza Bicolor

Revegetation with fast-growing N-fixing leguminous plants can be an alternate for reclamation of degraded coal mining areas. Selection of appropriate plant species is an important factor in deciding the success in the remediation of mine spoil. Thus, this study was carried out in greenhouse conditions to evaluate the effect of two N-fixing leguminous plant seedlings, soybean (Glycine max) and shrub lespedeza (Lespedeza bicolor), on the available N and other soil nutrients (P, K, Ca, and Mg) of the experimental coal mine soil. Four treatments, including T0—non-fertilized non-inoculation (control), T1—fertilization, T2—bacterial inoculation, and T3—combination of fertilization and bacterial inoculation with three replications were applied to both plants. Concentration of NH4+-N and NO3−-N increased significantly in the soil at different treatments for both soybean and shrub lespedeza, as compared to control, but apart from control no significant difference was observed between other treatments of increased NH4+-N for soybean and increased NO3−-N for shrub lespedeza. The highest number of nodules and dry weight of nodule per plant (g) was recorded 5.73 and 1.8, respectively in soybean, and 7.77 and 2.76, respectively, in shrub lespedeza with bacteria-inoculated treatment (T2), whereas fertilized treatment (T1) produced the lowest number of nodule and dry weight of nodule in both plants. Increasing of available P and K was significantly high when NPK fertilizer was applied to the plants but decreased at other treatments. Therefore, it can be concluded that soybean and shrub lespedeza have a significant role in changing soil nutrient status in coal mining soil through fertilizer application and biological N fixation.

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