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Soil transplants as a mine reclamation technique for rehabilitating soil microbial communities

British Columbia Mine Reclamation Symposium; University of British Columbia. Norman B. Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering

Overburden and tailings requiring reclamation at mine sites are nutrient deficient, have poor physical structure and lack developed biological communities, which can be a barrier to revegetation. Small-volume transplants of native forest soil to the seedling rhizosphere are a potential source of locally-adapted biological inoculum and improved rhizosphere physiochemical conditions. A six-month greenhouse study using substrates from the Mount Polley Mine, BC tested the effects of 5% (~40mL) and 25% (~180mL) native forest soil transplants on alder, spruce and willow seedling establishment in overburden and tailings. Sterilized soil was also tested to investigate the role of soil biota in the observed effects. In general, 5% and 25% forest soil transplants added to overburden and tailings, respectively, significantly improved seedling establishment to be equivalent to forest soil controls, although transplant effects and substrate interactions varied among the tested species. The transplants were also an effective source of nitrogen-fixing bacteria and ectomycorrhizal fungi for tailings reclamation. Increased colonization by these symbionts was linked to improvements in seedling growth and physiology endpoints. This reclamation technique provides an option for mine sites with low topsoil availability and/or salvaged topsoil that has degraded during long-term storage.

Conference Paper

eng

Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library

10.14288/1.0374543

Forestry, Faculty of

Faculty; Graduate

DSpace