Evaluation of substrate and amendment materials for soil reclamation at a diamond mine in the Northwest Territories, Canada

2012 ◽  
Vol 92 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bonnie L. Drozdowski ◽  
M. Anne Naeth ◽  
Sarah R. Wilkinson

Drozdowski, B. L., Naeth, M. A. and Wilkinson, S. R. 2012. Evaluation of substrate and amendment materials for soil reclamation at a diamond mine in the Northwest Territories, Canada. Can. J. Soil Sci. 92: 77–88. Mine waste materials with potential for use in soil construction at a diamond mine in the Northwest Territories were evaluated to address physical and chemical limitations for plant establishment, growth and development. Substrates were glacial till, gravel, processed kimberlite, and 50:50 and 25:75 mixes of processed kimberlite and till. Amendments were salvaged topsoil, sewage sludge, inorganic fertilizer and sludge from a water treatment facility. Reclamation soils constructed with these materials were adequate for revegetation. Mixes of processed kimberlite and glacial till enhanced soil structure and diluted adverse concentrations of elements. The original gravel pad, alone or amended, was a suitable substrate for plants. Addition of organic amendments topsoil and sludge, to any substrate, increased organic matter, nutrients and surface water retention. Of amendments evaluated, salvaged topsoil provided the most consistent increase in plant density among substrates. Inorganic fertilizer applied to gravel or till provided results similar to those with topsoil. Sludge had potential to amend mixes of processed kimberlite and till, although results were variable. Sewage was a good source of organic matter, increasing soil water content and macro nutrients. Vegetation response was poor in sewage-amended treatments likely due to combined effects of high copper, molybdenum, phosphorus, selenium, sulphate and zinc.

Author(s):  
Amita M Watkar ◽  

Soil, itself means Soul of Infinite Life. Soil is the naturally occurring unconsolidated or loose covering on the earth’s surface. Physical properties depend upon the amount, size, shape, arrangement, and mineral composition of soil particles. It also depends on the organic matter content and pore spaces. Chemical properties depend on the Inorganic and organic matter present in the soil. Soils are the essential components of the environment and foundation resources for nearly all types of land use, besides being the most important component of sustainable agriculture. Therefore, assessment of soil quality and its direction of change with time is an ideal and primary indicator of sustainable agricultural land management. Soil quality indicators refer to measurable soil attributes that influence the capacity of a soil to function, within the limits imposed by the ecosystem, to preserve biological productivity and environmental quality and promote plant, animal and human health. The present study is to assess these soil attributes such as physical and chemical properties season-wise.


Plants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 840
Author(s):  
Willem Q. M. van de Koot ◽  
Larissa J. J. van Vliet ◽  
Weilun Chen ◽  
John H. Doonan ◽  
Candida Nibau

Sphagnum peatmosses play an important part in water table management of many peatland ecosystems. Keeping the ecosystem saturated, they slow the breakdown of organic matter and release of greenhouse gases, facilitating peatland’s function as a carbon sink rather than a carbon source. Although peatland monitoring and restoration programs have increased recently, there are few tools to quantify traits that Sphagnum species display in their ecosystems. Colony density is often described as an important determinant in the establishment and performance in Sphagnum but detailed evidence for this is limited. In this study, we describe an image analysis pipeline that accurately annotates Sphagnum capitula and estimates plant density using open access computer vision packages. The pipeline was validated using images of different Sphagnum species growing in different habitats, taken on different days and with different smartphones. The developed pipeline achieves high accuracy scores, and we demonstrate its utility by estimating colony densities in the field and detecting intra and inter-specific colony densities and their relationship with habitat. This tool will enable ecologists and conservationists to rapidly acquire accurate estimates of Sphagnum density in the field without the need of specialised equipment.


2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia Santibañez ◽  
Luz María de la Fuente ◽  
Elena Bustamante ◽  
Sergio Silva ◽  
Pedro León-Lobos ◽  
...  

The study evaluated the efficacy of organic- and hard-rock mine waste type materials on aided phytostabilization of Cu mine tailings under semiarid Mediterranean conditions in order to promote integrated waste management practices at local levels and to rehabilitate large-scale (from 300 to 3,000 ha) postoperative tailings storage facilities (TSFs). A field trial with 13 treatments was established on a TSF to test the efficacy of six waste-type locally available amendments (grape and olive residues, biosolids, goat manure, sediments from irrigation canals, and rubble from Cu-oxide lixiviation piles) during early phases of site rehabilitation. Results showed that, even though an interesting range of waste-type materials were tested, biosolids (100 t ha-1dry weight, d.w.) and grape residues (200 t ha-1d.w.), either alone or mixed, were the most suitable organic amendments when incorporated into tailings to a depth of 20 cm. Incorporation of both rubble from Cu-oxide lixiviation piles and goat manure into upper tailings also had effective results. All these treatments improved chemical and microbiological properties of tailings and lead to a significant increase in plant yield after three years from trial establishment. Longer-term evaluations are, however required to evaluate self sustainability of created systems without further incorporation of amendments.


1996 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 273-279 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.R. Gurung ◽  
R.B. Stewart ◽  
P. Loganathan ◽  
P.E.H. Gregg

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Baghdad Science Journal

Soil invertebrates community an important role as part of essential food chain and responsible for the decomposition in the soil, helps soil aeration , nutrients recycling and increase agricultural production by providing the essential elements necessary for photosynthesis and energy flow in ecosystems.The aim of the present study was to investigate the soil invertebrates community in one of the date palms plantation in Aljaderia district South of Baghdad, , and their relationships with some physical and chemical properties of the soil , as Five randomly distributed replicates of soil samples were collected monthly. Invertebrates samples were sorted from the soil with two methods, direct method to isolate large invertebrates and indirectly to isolate small invertebrates using wet funnel method. The study also included the determination of physical and chemical factors of the soil (Temperature, Salinity, pH, Organic matter, Humidity, In addition to the soil texture).Monthly fluctuations in physical and chemical characteristics of the soil and the total invertebrates community study site were determined. Significant correlations the of the invertebrates community and each of temperature, organic matter, and humidity were observed. The study revealed that the temperature of the soil ranged between 5 to 25 C0 , The salinity concentration ranged between 1.1-1.9 ‰, The pH values ranged between 7.3 to 7.8 and the percentage of soil moisture ranged between 15 - 25% , Soil samples were composed of 44.6 % Clay, 19.7% Silt and 35.5% Sand.A total of 4625 individuals of soil invertebrates belonging to 16 taxa were sorted , within which the adult and larval insects were the most abundant, and from them 1283 individuals were sorted , represented 28% of the total numbers, followed by Isopoda , which 1030 individuals of them were sorted, In addition to Nematode, Oligochaetes Annelids family Enchytraeidae, and Earthworms family Lumbricida, Species of Chilopoda, Diplopoda, mites, land snails and slugs. The highest total individual number were recorded recorded durim moderate temperature months, February, March and April amounted to 838, 801 and 813 individuals, respectively.A significant correlation was mated between total number of soil invertebrates and each of temperature, organic matter and humidity. The significant difference in means was calculated according to LSD test.


2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (02) ◽  
pp. 60-67
Author(s):  
Aditya Rahmadaniarti ◽  
Wolfram Y. Mofu

Decomposition is a simple change of physical and chemical processes by soil microorganisms—the rate of decomposition process influenced by climate and litter quality factors. Litter content of chemical compounds is essential to determine the litter's quality so that it can be estimated the decomposition process. Leaves litter of Magnolia tsiampacca, Intsia bijuga, Cinnamomum cullilawan, and Aglaia sp., were collected and analyzed for their chemical compounds. Based on lignin and nitrogen content (L/N) value, Cinnamomum cullilawan have the fastest decomposition process. On the contrary, Intsia bijuga has low litter quality, so that has the slowest decomposition process. However, it has the lowest lignin content and high polyphenol content. Our research found that four observed species were able to be used as sources of soil organic matter, although the litter quality is relatively low.


PeerJ ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. e11204
Author(s):  
Maria Viketoft ◽  
Laura G.A. Riggi ◽  
Riccardo Bommarco ◽  
Sara Hallin ◽  
Astrid R. Taylor

Addition of organic amendments is a commonly used practice to offset potential loss of soil organic matter from agricultural soils. The aim of the present study was to examine how long-term addition of organic matter affects the abundance of different soil biota across trophic levels and the role that the quality of the organic amendments plays. Here we used a 17-year-old fertilization experiment to investigate soil biota responses to four different organic fertilizers, compared with two mineral nitrogen fertilizers and no fertilization, where the organic fertilizers had similar carbon content but varied in their carbon to nitrogen ratios. We collected soil samples and measured a wide range of organisms belonging to different functional groups and trophic levels of the soil food web. Long-term addition of organic and mineral fertilizers had beneficial effects on the abundances of most soil organisms compared with unfertilized soil, but the responses differed between soil biota. The organic fertilizers generally enhanced bacteria and earthworms. Fungi and nematodes responded positively to certain mineral and organic fertilizers, indicating that multiple factors influenced by the fertilization may affect these heterogeneous groups. Springtails and mites were less affected by fertilization than the other groups, as they were present at relatively high abundances even in the unfertilized treatment. However, soil pH had a great influence on springtail abundance. In summary, the specific fertilizer was more important in determining the numerical and compositional responses of soil biota than whether it was mineral or organic. Overall, biennial organic amendments emerge as insufficient, by themselves, to promote soil organisms in the long run, and would need to be added annually or combined with other practices affecting soil quality, such as no or reduced tillage and other crop rotations, to have a beneficial effect.


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