Land restoration management after topsoil mining and implications for restoration policy guidelines in New Zealand

A three-year field trial on an upland loessial soil (Belmont silt loam) in New Zealand investigated the effects of ripping, application of fertilizer N and grazing management on the recovery of some physical, chemical and biochemical properties of soil and pasture productivity following removal (mining) of topsoil. Removing the top 31 cm of soil by mining (all of the A horizon and part of the AB horizon) also removed most of the soil's labile organic matter fractions, and to a lesser extent its total organic matter. After three years, the microbial C and mineralizable N in the 0–10 cm depth of mined soil had reached 65 and 62 per cent of the corresponding levels in unmined soil. Ripping to a depth of 30 cm, application of fertilizer N and lenient grazing of the pasture failed to enhance the recovery of soil fertility. A soil sampling depth of 20 cm provided a reasonable basis to assess the microbial biomass and potential fertility. Pasture productivity was, on average, 30 per cent lower on mined land than on unmined land over the first three years after mining. Application of N proved uneconomic in terms of farm production, although a good pasture response to N fertilizer was obtained. The results from this and related trials are summarized as a series of recommendations for the monitoring and regulation of topsoil mining. An incentive regime is also recommended to encourage land owners and/or topsoil miners to use successful restoration techniques on topsoil-mined land. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Post-reclamation Age Effects on Soil Physical Properties and Microbial Activity Under Forest and Pasture Ecosystems

During surface mining and subsequent reclamation efforts, physical, chemical, and biological properties of soils are disturbed. A study was conducted to evaluate the effects of age chronosequence on soil physical property and microbial activity in chronosequence reclaimed sites covering successional ages in the ranges 1, 4, 8, 11, and 13 years under forest and pasture ecosystems. The adjacent normal and unmined pasture and forest were used as a control for comparison purposes. The study site was located at the Red Hill Mine in east central Mississippi (approximately 33.3 N latitude and 89 W longitude), which is used by the North America Mining Company, LLC. Soil samples were collected from the reclaimed and unmined sites at 0–15- and 15–30-cm depth and analyzed for selected soil quality indicators. Results indicated that water stable aggregate and infiltration were increased, but soil bulk density and compaction decreased with increasing reclamation age. Soil penetration resistance was greater in the pasture than forest ecosystem. All reclaimed soils had less microbial enzyme activity than an unmined forest ecosystem; however, bacteria population level after 11 years since reclamation was similar to that of unmined forest soils. Soil organic carbon increased with increasing reclamation age strongly correlated with soil physical indicators and appears to be the main driving force during the development of soil physical and biological properties in the humid southeast.     

Microbial community structure and relationship with physicochemical properties of soil stockpiles in selected South African opencast coal mines

At present, there is no comprehensive soil quality assessment practice for soil stockpiles in the South African coal mining industry. Soil microorganisms and enzymes are suitable indicators for soil quality monitoring. Therefore, this study investigated the microbial community and enzyme (beta-glucosidase and urease) activities in soil stockpiles of opencast coal mines in the coal-rich region of South Africa. Soil stockpiles of three opencast coal mines were sampled at depths of 0–20 cm (‘topsoil’) and >20 cm (‘subsoil’) across three seasons. Beta-glucosidase and urease activities were mostly higher in soil stockpiles than in unmined soils and were significantly influenced (P < 0.05) by the interaction of site and seasonal factors. However, analyses of PCR-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE) profiles of partial 16S rRNA gene and internally transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) sequences revealed higher microbial diversity in unmined (reference) soils compared to soil stockpiles across all seasons. Redundancy analysis further revealed that microbial communities of topsoil were not significantly (P > 0.05) influenced by soil properties, whereas microbial communities of subsoils were significantly (P < 0.05) influenced by pH, organic carbon, total nitrogen and phosphorus contents. Furthermore, operational taxonomic units (OTUs) belonging to genera of known phytobeneficial species such as Azomonas, Aureobasidium, Phialocephala, Phoma and Sordariomycetes were detected in these soils. Overall, results suggest that the microbial community structure and diversity observed in stockpiles is impaired (compared to the unmined site), although variations in the microbial community structure of soil stockpiles across seasons are site-specific. The impaired microbial community of stockpiles may have negative implications on soil biological processes driven by microbes; especially those that are critical for nutrient cycling and ecosystem sustainability. More importantly, such alteration in soil biodiversity may impair post-mining land use capability of stockpile soils.     

Microbial residues as indicators of soil restoration in South African secondary pastures

Prolonged intensive arable cropping of semiarid grassland soils in the South African Highveld resulted in a significant loss of C, N and associated living and dead microbial biomass. To regenerate their soils, farmers converted degraded arable sites back into secondary pastures. The objective of this study was to clarify the contribution of microorganisms to the sequestration of C and N in soil during this regeneration phase. Composite samples were taken from the topsoils of former arable land, namely Plinthustalfs, which had been converted to pastures 1-31 years ago. Amino sugars were determined as markers for microbial residues in the bulk soil and in selected particle-size fractions. The results showed that when C and N contents increased during the secondary pasture usage, the amino sugar concentration in the bulk soil (0-5 cm) recovered at similar magnitude and reached a new steady-state level after approximately 90 years, which corresponded only to 90% of the amino sugar level in the primary grassland. The amino sugar concentration in the clay-sized fraction recovered to a higher end level than in the bulk soil, and also at a faster annual rate. This confirms that especially the finer particles contained a high amount of amino sugars and were responsible, thus, for the restoration of microbially derived C and N. The incomplete recovery of amino sugars in bulk soil can only in parts be attributed to a slightly coarser texture of secondary grassland that had lost silt through wind erosion. The soils particularly had also lost the ability to restore microbial residues below 5 cm soil depth. Overall, the ratios of glucosamine to muramic acid also increased with increasing duration of pasture usage, suggesting that fungi dominated the microbial sequestration of C and N whereas the re-accumulation of bacterial cell wall residues was less pronounced. However, the glucosamine-to-muramic acid ratios finally even exceeded those of the primary grassland, indicating that there remained some irreversible changes of the soil microbial community by former intensive crop management.     

Recovery of topsoil characteristics after landslip erosion in dry hill country of New Zealand, and a test of the space-for-time hypothesis

The rate of development of topsoil is an important characteristic for soil resilience and sustainable use. We located a chronosequence (1-59 yr) of recovering landslip scars in erodible siltstone hill country under permanent pasture for sheep farming in New Zealand. We measured the rates of recovery in microbial C, respiration, catabolic diversity, phosphatase, sulphatase and invertase activities, pH, total C, total N, C/N ratio, potentially mineralizable N, total P, Olsen P, cation-exchange capacity, bulk density, particle density, porosity, available water and aggregate stability (0-10 cm depth). A subset of the same sites was sampled again after a 14-yr interval, enabling us to test whether rates of change estimated by resampling the same sites were the same as those estimated from a single time sample from the chronosequence (the space-for-time hypothesis).Most topsoil characteristics had recovered to 71-85% of those in the non-slipped sites after 59 yr. Exceptions were soil respiration, invertase and sulphatase activities, and bulk density, which recovered to 94-110% of the values of the non-slipped sites. There was little change in soil pH, total P, Olsen P, exchangeable cations and water storage along the chronosequence. An asymptote model fitted the patterns of recovery in biochemical characteristics, organic matter, bulk density and particle density. Recovery (to 90% of the asymptote value) was most rapid for the C/N ratio (5 yr) and longest for particle density (79 yr); most other characteristics fell in an 18-50 yr range. Overall, a single sampling of a chronosequence of matched landslip scars was as reliable to estimate rates of recovery as was resampling individual sites through time. Total C and N were as effective as more complicated biochemical measures to monitor the recovery of topsoil.     

Recolonization of methyl bromide sterilized soils under four different field conditions

Summary The course of recovery in biological activity was assessed in the top 5 cm of undisturbed soil cores (29.7 cm diameter, 30 cm deep) that had been fumigated in the laboratory with methyl bromide. The cores were returned to their original pasture and forest sites, two with a moderate and two with a high rainfall, and untreated soils at all sites served as baselines. Sampling took place over 166 days (midsummer to midwinter). Microbial biomass (as measured by fumigation-extraction and substrate-induced respiration procedures) and dehydrogenase activity both recovered rapidly, but remained consistently lower in the fumigated than in untreated samples at both forest sites and at the moister of the two pasture sites. Bacterial numbers also recovered rapidly. Fungal hyphal lengths were, on average over 166 days, 25% lower in the fumigated soils. Levels of mineral N were initially highest in the fumigated soils, but declined with time. Fumigation generally had no detectable effects on the subsequent rates of net N mineralization and little effect on nitrification rates. Fumigation almost totally eliminated protozoa, with one to three species being recovered on day 0; the numbers recovered most rapidly in the moist forest soil and slowly in the dry pasture soil. The recoionization rate of protozoan species was similar in all soils, with species numbers on day 110 being 33 and 34 in the fumigated and untreated soils, respectively. Nematodes were eliminated by fumigation; recolonization was first detected on day 26 but by day 166, nematode numbers were still lower in fumigated than in untreated soils, the abundance being 10 and 62 g^-1 soil and diversity 10 and 31 species, respectively. Overall, the results suggest that protozoan and nematode populations and diversities could provide a useful medium-term ecological index of the recovery in comprehensive soil biological activity following major soil pollution or disturbance.     

Effects of soil compaction on N-mineralization and microbial-C and -N. II. Laboratory simulation

Soil compaction can affect the turnover of C and N (e.g. by changing soil aeration or by changing microbial community structure). In order to study this in greater detail, a laboratory experiment simulating total soil porosities representative of field conditions in cropped and pasture soils was set up. Soils were silty clay loams (Typic Endoaquepts) from a site that had been cropped with cereals continuously for 28 years, a permanent pasture and a site that had been cropped with maize continuously for 10 years. Soils from the three sites were compacted into cores to different total porosities (corresponding bulk densities ranging from 0.88 to 1.30 Mg m⁻³). The soil cores were equilibrated to different matric potentials (ranging from −1 to −100 kPa), yielding values for the fraction of air-filled pores of < 0.01 to 0.53 m³ m⁻³, and then incubated at 25°C for 21 days. C-mineralization was on average 15, 33 and 21 μg C g⁻¹ day⁻¹ for soils from the cropped, pasture and maize sites, respectively, and was positively correlated with soil water contents. Net N-mineralization showed a similar pattern only for well-aerated, high total porosity cores (corresponding bulk density 0.88 Mg m⁻³) from the pasture soil. Denitrification at < 0.20 m³ m⁻³ for the fraction of air-filled pores may have caused the low N-mineralization rates observed in treatments with high water content or low porosity. Microbial biomass estimates decreased significantly with increasing water contents if measured by fumigation-extraction, but were not significantly affected by water content if estimated by the substrate-induced respiration method. The degree of soil compaction did not affect the microbial biomass estimates significantly but did affect microbial activity indirectly by altering aeration status.     

Soil characteristics,belowground diversity and rates of simazine mineralisation of a New Zealand Gley Soil in a chronosequence under horticultural use

The chemical, physical and biological conditions of a New Zealand Gley Soil was examined on matched sites under long-term permanent pasture or used to grow blackcurrants (Ribes nigrum) for 2, 8, 10 or 20 years. The chemical and physical conditions of topsoils (0–10 cm) were assessed by soil pH, Olsen P, total C, total N, mineralisable N, cation exchange, bulk density, porosity and moisture release characteristics. The biological conditions were assessed from the microbial biomass, soil respiration, catabolic evenness and numbers and diversity of the soil nematode populations. The ability of the soil populations to degrade the triazine herbicide simazine was tested. The particle size distribution confirmed all the sites were very well matched, within 2%, in terms of percentage clay, silt and sand contents, which were 36.5–40.5% clay and 59.5–62.5% silt. Compared with the soil under pasture, that under horticultural use for 2, 8, 10 and 20 years had lower total C and N, lower mineralisable N, lower cation exchange and lower porosity but higher bulk density and particle density. The differences were greater the longer the plots had been under blackcurrant production. Olsen P content was greatest (58 μg P cm⁻³) under the 20-year blackcurrant plots. Changes in biological characteristics were greater than in physical or chemical characteristics. Microbial biomass was 1.73 mg C cm⁻³ under pasture and decreased to 0.87 mg C cm⁻³ after 20 years of blackcurrants. Total nematode populations deceased from 3.89 million m⁻² under pasture to 0.36 million m⁻² after 2 years of blackcurrant production and to 108 000 m⁻² after 20 years. There were similar proportional decreases in bacterial-feeding, fungal-feeding, plant-feeding and omnivore nematodes; however, there was comparatively little change in nematode diversity (Shannon–Weiner) or in microbial catabolic diversity or soil respiration. Despite the decreased microbial biomass, the microbial community under blackcurrant production had enhanced capacity to degrade simazine, as compared with the pasture soil. That capacity to degrade simazine was similar in soils that had grown blackcurrants for 2, 8, 10 or 20 years. Yield of blackcurrants had been maintained in the longer-term sites, despite the marked changes in soil chemical, physical and biological conditions.     

燕沟流域土壤微生物学性质对植被恢复过程的响应

以黄土高原丘陵区陕北延安燕沟流域为例,研究了退耕地土壤微生物生物量对植被恢复过程的响应。结果表明,随植被恢复年限的增加,植被盖度、多度和物种数均呈现先增加后减少然后又增加的趋势。同对照农地相比,表层(0—5 cm)土壤呼吸速率和土壤微生物生物量均明显增加。表层土壤呼吸速率和微生物量碳、氮、磷分别比对照农地增加31.61%3~60.75%和15.19%5~12.81%、122.91%6~97.15%、193.5%2~068.17%。表层土壤呼吸速率对植被恢复的响应是在植被恢复初期(02~9年),随植被恢复年限的增加而增加;植被恢复305~5年期间,随植被恢复年限的增加而减少;而植被恢复55年以后,又随植被恢复年限的增加而增加。植被恢复过程中,土壤微生物量碳、氮和磷的变化与土壤呼吸速率变化趋势类似。除植被恢复8和16年外,植被恢复年限间的土壤呼吸速率、呼吸熵和微生物量碳、氮、磷均有显著性差异。表层土壤呼吸速率与土壤微生物量氮、磷呈极显著相关,土壤微生物量碳与土壤微生物量氮呈显著相关;而土壤呼吸熵与呼吸速率和微生物量碳、氮、磷相关性不明显。     

Variations in pore distribution of reconstructed soils induced by opencast mining and land rehabilitation based on computed tomography images

Opencast coal mining is an anthropogenic activity that changes the antecedent soil profile, and it was important to understand the distribution characteristics of soil pore and then select suitable land rehabilitation measures. To better quantify the pore distribution characterization of reconstructed soils in opencast coalmine dumps, high-resolution and non-destructive computed tomography (CT) method was used to study the effect of opencast coal-mining and land rehabilitation on the soil pore distribution by scanning soils from the Antaibao Opencast Coal-mine in China. The soils were taken from the dump platforms with different rehabilitation time and an unmined site. ImangeJ 2 was used to process the scanned images and the soil pore densities and porosities of different pore sizes were used to analyze the distribution characteristics of soil pore. Opencast mining activities decreased soil pore density and soil porosity, especially in macropores. Compared to unmined soils, the total porosity of the non-rehabilitated soils reduced by 25.0%, 20.5%, 17.7% at the depths of 0–25, 25–50, 50–75 cm, respectively. Vegetation rehabilitation should be used to develop soil pore structure and improve the proportion of different pore sizes.     

Effects of soil compaction on N-mineralization and microbial-C and -N. I. Field measurements

Soil biological parameters, such as soil respiration or N-mineralization, may be more sensitive to soil compaction than physical parameters. Therefore we studied the effects of soil compaction on net N-mineralization and microbial biomass dynamics in the field. The soils were silty clay loams (Typic Endoaquepts) in either a well-structured permanent pasture with high organic-C content (46 mg g⁻¹) or a site which had been continuously cropped with cereals for 28 years with low organic-C content (21 mg g⁻¹) and a very poor structure. Compaction treatments were applied by five passes of a tractor (total weight 4880 kg, speed 2.2 m s⁻¹). An energy flux of either 2712 J m⁻² (assuming deflecting tyres) or 6056 J m⁻² (assuming rigid tyres) per pass of the rear tyres was estimated. Soil dry bulk densities were initially 1.00 and 1.30 Mg m⁻³ in the pasture and cropped sites, respectively, and increased significantly only in the less dense pasture site. However, soil surface CO₂-fluxes decreased substantially after compaction on both sites (57–69%) because of the highly reduced air permeability of the topsoil. At the cropped site this was also accompanied by a significant decrease in oxygen-diffusion rate (45%). Using the in situ core technique with covered cores the apparent net N-mineralization rate was less in compacted than in non-compacted areas of the pasture ((0.27 and 0.38 μg N g⁻¹ day⁻¹, respectively), but did not differ at the cropped site (average 0.15 μg N g⁻¹ day⁻¹). However, N-mineralization measurements by the in situ core technique were found to be problematic as denitrification possibly occurred and concealed actual net N-mineralization. Microbial biomass did not change significantly as a result of the compaction treatment, but was shown to either decrease or increase over time depending on the methodology used to estimate microbial biomass.     

Consequences of forest conversion to pasture and fallow on soil microbial biomass and activity in the eastern Amazon

The main change in soil use in Amazonia is, after slash and burn deforestation followed by annual crops, the establishment of pastures. This conversion of forest to pasture induces changes in the carbon cycle, modifies soil organic matter content and quality and affects biological activity responsible for numerous biochemical and biological processes essential to ecosystem functioning. The aim of this study was to assess changes in microbial biomass and activity in fallow and pasture soils after forest clearing. The study was performed in smallholder settlements of eastern Brazilian Amazonia. Soil samples from depths of 0–2, 2–5 and 5–10 cm were gathered in native forest, fallow land 8–10 yr old and pastures with ages of 1–2, 5–7 and 10–12 yr. Once fallow began, soil microbial biomass and its activity showed little change. In contrast, conversion to pasture modified soil microbial functioning significantly. Microbial biomass and its basal respiration decreased markedly after pasture establishment and continued to decrease with pasture age. The increase in metabolic quotient in the first years of pasture indicated a disturbance in soil functioning. Our study confirms that microbial biomass is a sensitive indicator of soil disturbance caused by land‐use change.     

Towards a biochemical quality index for soils: An expression relating several biological and biochemical properties

Soil biological and biochemical properties are highly sensitive to environmental stress and thus can be used to assess quality. Any soil quality index should include several biological and biochemical variables so as to reflect better the complex processes affecting soil quality and to compensate for the wide variations occurring in individual properties. Many authors recommend the use of a native soil supporting climax vegetation that has undergone minimal anthropogenic disturbance as a high quality reference soil. In this study which examined three such native soils of Galicia (N.W. Spain) bearing Atlantic oakwood as the climax vegetation, biological and biochemical properties were found to vary widely seasonally and with sampling site and depth. These variations were closely correlated with the total carbon (C) and/or total nitrogen (N) contents of the soils. The following equation: Total N= (0.38×10^–3) microbial biomass C +(1.4×10^–3) mineralized N +(13.6×10^–3) phosphomonoesterase +(8.9×10^–3) β-glucosidase+(1.6×10^–3) urease explained 97% of the variance in total N for the soils studied, suggesting that a balance exists between the organic matter content of a soil and its biological and biochemical properties. A simplified expression of the above equation may be useful as a biochemical quality index for soils. Received: 5 March 1997     

榆神府覆沙矿区采煤塌陷地表层土壤理化性质演变

以榆神府覆沙矿区采煤塌陷地表层土壤为研究对象,运用野外调查取样和实验室分析检测方法,研究不同采煤塌陷年限下(1、2、5、10 a和未塌陷区)土壤理化性质演变特征,探讨采煤塌陷过程中土壤理化性质的响应及其机制。结果表明:(1)与未塌陷地相比,采煤引起地表塌陷初期(1~2 a)土壤体积质量、硬度、黏粒含量、含水量、有机质、速效氮、速效钾、有效磷、全磷和全钾含量均有显著减小,而土壤孔隙度、p H和沙粒含量增加,全氮含量变化不明显,土壤质量总体表现出一定的退化趋势;(2)塌陷区自然恢复条件下上述土壤指标在塌陷5 a后呈现出改善的趋势,其中土壤物理性质、全效养分和土壤水分指标恢复较快,在塌陷10 a后即可恢复至塌陷前水平;但土壤速效养分、p H和有机质经过10 a的土壤自修复仍未完全恢复,采煤塌陷对土壤质量的损害具有一定延续性。(3)采煤塌陷后土壤质量演变过程分析表明,自然恢复条件下塌陷区土壤大体经过3个演替阶段,即退化期(塌陷后1~2 a)→改善期(塌陷后5 a)→部分恢复期(塌陷后10 a)。     

Organic matter status and the size,activity and metabolic diversity of the soil microflora as indicators of the success of rehabilitation of mined sand dunes

The effectiveness of the rehabilitation of mined sand dunes on the northern coast of KwaZulu–Natal, South Africa, was assessed based on measurements of the total and labile organic matter content and the size, activity and metabolic diversity of the soil microflora. Soil was sampled (0–10 cm) after 0, 5, 10, 20 and 25 years of rehabilitation and compared with soil under undisturbed native forest and under long-term commercial pine forest. Following topsoil removal, stockpiling and respreading on reformed dunes, there was a massive loss of organic C such that, at time zero, organic C content was only 24% of that present under native forest. Soil organic C content increased progressively during rehabilitation until, after 25 years, it represented 93% of that present under native forest. The pattern of change in light-fraction C, KMnO₄-extractable C, water-soluble C, microbial biomass C, basal respiration and arginine ammonification rate was broadly similar to that for organic C, but the extent of the initial loss and the magnitude of the subsequent increase differed. Microbial biomass C, water-soluble C and KMnO₄-extractable C, expressed as a percentage of organic C, declined during rehabilitation as humic substances progressively accumulated. Principal component (PC) analysis of catabolic response profiles to 36 substrates revealed that the catabolic diversity of microbial communities differed greatly between native forest, commercial pine forest, 0 years and 10 years of rehabilitation. On the PC1 axis, values for soils under native forest and after 25 years rehabilitation were similar, but there was still separation on the PC2 axis. The main factor explaining variation in response profiles on the PC1 axis was organic C content; and the greatest catabolic diversity occurred in soils under native forest and after 25 years of rehabilitation.     

Interactions between soil organic matter status, cropping history, method of quantification and sample pretreatment and their effects on measured aggregate stability

 The effects of sample pretreatment (field-moist, air-dried or tension rewetted) on aggregate stability measured by wet sieving or turbidimetry were compared for a group of soil samples ranging in organic C content from 20 to 40 g C kg^–1. Concentrations of total N, total and hot-water-extractable carbohydrate and microbial biomass C were linearly related to those of organic C. Aggregate stability measured by wet sieving using air-dried or field-moist samples and that measured by turbidimetry, regardless of sample pretreatment, increased curvilinearly with increasing soil organic C content. However, when tension-rewetted samples were used for wet sieving, aggregate stability was essentially unaffected by soil organic C content. Measurements of aggregate stability (apart from wet sieving using rewetted soils) were closely correlated with one another and with organic C, total and extractable carbohydrate and microbial biomass C content of the soils. The short-term effects of aggregate stability were also studied. Soils from under long-term arable management and those under long-term arable followed by 1 or 3 years under pasture had similar organic C contents, but aggregate stability measured by turbidimetry and by wet sieving using air-dried or field-moist samples increased with increasing years under pasture. Light fraction C, microbial biomass and hot-water-extractable carbohydrate concentrations also increased. It was concluded that both total and labile soil organic C content are important in relation to water-stable aggregation and that the use of tension-rewetted samples to measure stability by wet sieving is unsatisfactory since little separation of values is achieved. Received: 6 January 1999     

离子型稀土矿尾砂地植被恢复障碍因子研究

以江西省赣州市定南县不同废弃时间的离子型稀土矿尾砂地为研究对象,通过植被调查、土壤理化性质、微生物和酶活性分析,探讨稀土矿尾砂地植被恢复的障碍因子。结果表明,尾砂地植被覆盖度随着废弃时间增加而增加,在废弃10年后植被覆盖度达到72%,但其群落组成仍相对简单(仅3种);尾砂地土壤黏粒含量(6.00%~9.66%)和土壤有机质含量(0.5~1.5 g kg-1)均远低于周边正常植被区,而尾砂地土壤容重(1.26~1.43 g cm-3)则明显高于周边正常植被区。废弃1年的尾砂地土壤电导值显著高于废弃3~10年的尾砂地土壤和对照区土壤,土壤铵态氮和碱解氮含量则高达400 mg kg-1和500 mg kg-1,但废弃3~10年后碱解氮和铵态氮含量已趋于痕量,且在所调查的废弃3年和6年的尾砂地0~100 cm剖面内土壤铵态氮含量也极低,表明尾砂地土壤铵态氮在废弃3年内已流失殆尽,严重的水土流失及其导致的土壤氮素等营养匮乏也是尾砂地植被恢复的主要障碍之一;尾砂地土壤微生物生物量碳(26.7 mg kg-1)、土壤脲酶活性(29.9NH3-Nmg kg-1h-1)、土壤酸性磷酸酶活性(7.10 phenol mg kg-1h-1)均显著低于周边正常植被区土壤,表明尾砂地土壤氮、磷循环受到抑制。本研究表明,废弃3~10年内离子型稀土矿尾砂地的土壤理化生性质并未得到明显改善,尾砂地土壤面临土壤重建的问题,需要引入合适的人工干预如土壤改良才能加快尾砂地植被恢复。     

Effects of increasing periods under intensive arable vegetable production on biological, chemical and physical indices of soil quality

 The effects on soil condition of increasing periods under intensive cultivation for vegetable production on a Typic Haplohumult were compared with those of pastoral management using soil biological, physical and chemical indices of soil quality. The majority of the soils studied had reasonably high pH, exchangeable cation and extractable P levels reflecting the high fertilizer rates applied to dairy pasture and more particularly vegetable-producing soils. Soil organic C (C_org) content under long-term pasture (>60 years) was in the range of 55 g C kg^–1 to 65 g C kg^–1. With increasing periods under vegetable production soil organic matter declined until a new equilibrium level was attained at about 15–20 g C kg^–1 after 60–80 years. The loss of soil organic matter resulted in a linear decline in microbial biomass C (C_mic) and basal respiratory rate. The microbial quotient (C_mic/C_org) decreased from 2.3% to 1.1% as soil organic matter content declined from 65 g C kg^–1 to 15 g C kg^–1 but the microbial metabolic quotient (basal respiration/C_mic ratio) remained unaffected. With decreasing soil organic matter content, the decline in arginine ammonification rate, fluorescein diacetate hydrolytic activity, earthworm numbers, soil aggregate stability and total clod porosity was curvilinear and little affected until soil organic C content fell below about 45 g C kg^–1. Soils with an organic C content above 45 g C kg^–1 had been under pasture for at least 30 years. At the same C_org content, soil biological activity and soil physical conditions were markedly improved when soils were under grass rather than vegetables. It was concluded that for soils under continuous vegetable production, practices that add organic residues to the soil should be promoted and that extending routine soil testing procedures to include key physical and biological properties will be an important future step in promoting sustainable management practices in the area. Received: 18 November 1997     

Pasture degradation impacts soil phosphorus storage via changes to aggregate-associated soil organic matter in highly weathered tropical soils

Maintaining the productivity of tropical pastures is a major challenge for the sustainable management of tropical landscapes around the globe. To address this issue, we examined linkages between soil organic matter (SOM), aggregation, and phosphorus (P) dynamics by comparing productive vs. degraded pastures in the deforested Amazon Basin of Colombia. Paired plots of productive (dominated by planted Brachiaria spp.) vs. degraded pasture were identified on nine farms in the Department of Caquetá and sampled during the rainy season of 2011. Aboveground pasture biomass production and nutrient content were measured. Surface soils (0–10 cm) were also fractionated by wet sieving, and C, ¹³C, N and P contents were analyzed for the bulk soil and various aggregate size classes. Productive pastures yielded more than double the aboveground biomass compared to degraded pastures (during a 35 day regrowth period following cutting), with over 60% higher N and P contents in this material. Similar trends were observed for the standing litter biomass and nutrient contents. Soil aggregate stability was found to differ between pasture types, with a mean weight diameter of 3590 vs. 3230 μm in productive vs. degraded pastures, respectively. Productive pastures were found to have 20% higher total soil C and N contents than degraded pastures. While there was no difference in total P content between pasture types, organic P was found to be nearly 40% higher in soils of productive vs. degraded pastures. Differences in total SOM between pasture types were largely explained by a higher C content in the large macroaggregate fraction (>2000 μm), and more specifically in the microaggregates (53–250 μm) occluded within this fraction. These findings confirm the role of microaggregates within macroaggregates as a preferential site for the physical stabilization of SOM, and furthermore, suggest that it may serve as a useful diagnostic fraction for evaluating management impacts on SOM in tropical pasture systems. Similar to trends observed for C and N, total P content was 25% higher in the microaggregates within large macroaggregates of productive vs. degraded pasture soils. This correspondence between C and total P contents in large macroaggregate fractions, along with elevated levels of organic P in productive pastures, suggests that this P is likely in an organic form and that there is a close link between soil structure, SOM dynamics and the maintenance of organic P in these soils. Given the potential relevance of organic P for efficient P cycling in these soils, our findings offer critical new insight for the management of SOM and aggregate-associated P pools in tropical pasture systems.     

Microbial community PLFA and PHB responses to ecosystem restoration in tallgrass prairie soils

Native North American prairie grasslands are renowned for the richness of their soils, having excellent soil structure and very high organic content and microbial biomass. In this study, surface soils from three prairie restorations of varying ages and plant community compositions were compared with a nearby undisturbed native prairie remnant and a cropped agricultural field in terms of soil physical, chemical and microbial properties. Soil moisture, organic matter, total carbon, total nitrogen, total sulfur, C:N, water-holding capacity and microbial biomass (total PLFA) were significantly greater (p<0.05) in the virgin prairie remnant as well as the two long-term (21 and 24 year) prairie restorations, compared with the agricultural field and the restoration that was begun more recently (7 years prior to sampling). Soil bulk density was significantly greater (p<0.05) in the agricultural and recently restored sites. In most cases, the soil quality indicators and microbial community structures in the restoration sites were intermediate between those of the virgin prairie and the agricultural sites. Levels of poly-β-hydroxybutyrate (PHB) and PLFA indicators of nutritional stress were significantly greater (p<0.05) in the agricultural and recent restoration sites than in the long-term restorations or the native prairie. Samples could be assigned to the correct site by discriminant analysis of the PLFA data, with the exception that the two long-term restoration sites overlapped. Redundancy analysis showed that prairie age (p<0.005) was the most important environmental factor in determining the PLFA microbial community composition, with C:N (p<0.015) also being significant. These findings demonstrate that prairie restorations can lead to improved quality of surface soils. We predict that the conversion of farmland into prairie will shift the soil quality, microbial community biomass and microbial community composition in the direction of native prairies, but with the restoration methods tested it may take many decades to approach the levels found in a virgin prairie throughout the soil profile.