Pedosphere 22(1): 22--32, 2012
ISSN 1002-0160/CN 32-1315/P
©2012 Soil Science Society of China
Published by Elsevier B.V. and Science Press
| Plant cover and soil biochemical properties in a mine tailing pond five years after application of marble wastes and organic amendments |
R. ZORNOZA1 , A. FAZ1, D. M. CARMONA1,2, S. KABAS1, S. MARTÍNEZ-MARTÍNEZ1 and J. A. ACOSTA1 |
1 Sustainable Use, Management, and Reclamation of Soil and Water Research Group. Department of Agrarian Science and Technology. Technical University of Cartagena.Paseo Alfonso XIII, 52, 30203 Cartagena. Murcia (Spain)
2 Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana. Environmental Research Group. Circular 1a No.70-01.Medelín (Colombia) |
| ABSTRACT |
| Tailing ponds pose environmental hazards,such as toxic metals which can contaminate the surroundings through wind and water erosions and leaching.Various chemical and biochemical properties,together with extractable and soluble metals were measured five years after reclamation of a polluted soil affected by former mining activities.This abandoned mine site contains large amounts of Fe-oxyhydroxides,sulphates,and heavy metals.As a consequence,soils remain bare and the soil organic matter content is low (< 3 g kg-1).Marble waste,pig manure and sewage sludge were applied in 2004.Plant cover and richness,and soil chemical,biochemical and biological parameters were analysed five years later.Results showed that all soil biochemical properties as well as vegetation cover and richness were higher in treated soils than in the untreated contaminated plots (control),although organic matter,pH values and extractable metals concentrations were similar among treatments.Soluble cadmium and zinc were lower in the amended plots than in control.As a general pattern,soil amended with pig manure showed higher values of most biochemical properties compared to sewage sludge application,while the doses did not have a great effect,being only significant for β-glucosidase,phosphodiesterase and arylsulfatase.Significant correlations were found between vegetation cover,richness and soil biochemical properties,suggesting a high interdependence between plant colonization and reactivation of biogeochemical cycles during five years.This study confirms the high effectiveness of an initial application of the amendments tested to initialize the recovery of ecosystems in bare mine soils under Mediterranean semiarid conditions.This research also shows the high sensitivity of certain biochemical properties in order to evaluate soil quality and reactivation of nutrients cycles in reclaimed mine soils. |
| Key Words: hydrolase activities, metal pollution, microbial biomass, organic amendments, remediation |
| Citation: Zornoza, R., Faz, A., Carmona, D. M., Kabas, S., MartÍnez-martÍnez, S. and Acosta, J. A. 2012. Plant cover and soil biochemical properties in a mine tailing pond five years after application of marble wastes and organic amendments. Pedosphere. 22(1): 22-32. |
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