British Columbia Mine Reclamation Symposium

Nitrogen cycling in high elevation reclaimed mine spoil in southeastern British Columbia Fyles, Helen

Abstract

The research that has been carried out on N at Westar has been essential to determine the ability of the reclaimed sites to survive once management practices are terminated. It has been established that N is not accumulating in the litter on the soil surface but substantial amounts are being recycled by decomposition processes. A large proportion of the plant N is present in the plant roots; where it should be for a stable, self-sustaining plant system to develop. The labelled fertilizer study has shown that in the older reclaimed sites, only a small portion of the N in the plant comes from the fertilizer and most of it comes from supplies accumulated in the soil. This suggests that present management practices at Westar are successfully creating plant/soil systems on their high elevation reclaimed sites which recycle sufficient nutrients to meet the needs of plant growth.

Item Citations and Data

Rights

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International