The Experts below are selected from a list of 17025 Experts worldwide ranked by ideXlab platform
Dongke Zhang - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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a preliminary assessment of the potential of using an acacia biochar system for spent mine Site Rehabilitation
Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 2015Co-Authors: Frédérique Reverchon, Hong Yang, Guijun Yan, Jian Wang, Chengrong Chen, Dongke ZhangAbstract:Mining activities result in extensive soil degradation by removing the top soil, disturbing soil structure and altering microbial communities. Rehabilitation of spent mine Sites through revegetation thus requires proper soil amendments. In this study, a pot trial was conducted to investigate the effects of a jarrah biochar on the growth and nutrient status of a native legume, Acacia tetragonophylla, grown in a mixture of topsoil and mine rejects. Two biochar application rates (37 and 74 t ha−1) and two types of biochar, namely nutrient-enriched and non-enriched, were tested. We measured the soil pH and electrical conductivity, the carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) contents and C and N isotope composition (δ13C and δ15N) of soil and plants, the foliar phosphorus content and the growth and leaf biomass of the plants. Whilst no significant effect of biochar was observed on plant growth, biochar amendment affected soil properties and plant nutritional status. The highest rate of biochar application increased soil pH, C content and C/N ratio, and decreased soil δ13C. Biochar application also enhanced photosynthetic N use efficiency, as showed by the increase in foliar C/N ratio, and biological N fixation rates, as indicated by foliar δ15N. These positive effects were not observed when biochar was nutrient-enriched due to the associated increase in soil N. Revegetation of mine Sites with acacia in combination with biochar amendment constitutes a plausible alternative to the wide use of N fertiliser through the supply of additional N to the system, even though other nutrients may be required in order to enhance plant early growth.
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A preliminary assessment of the potential of using an acacia—biochar system for spent mine Site Rehabilitation
Environmental science and pollution research international, 2014Co-Authors: Frédérique Reverchon, Hong Yang, Guijun Yan, Jian Wang, Chengrong Chen, Dongke ZhangAbstract:Mining activities result in extensive soil degradation by removing the top soil, disturbing soil structure and altering microbial communities. Rehabilitation of spent mine Sites through revegetation thus requires proper soil amendments. In this study, a pot trial was conducted to investigate the effects of a jarrah biochar on the growth and nutrient status of a native legume, Acacia tetragonophylla, grown in a mixture of topsoil and mine rejects. Two biochar application rates (37 and 74 t ha−1) and two types of biochar, namely nutrient-enriched and non-enriched, were tested. We measured the soil pH and electrical conductivity, the carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) contents and C and N isotope composition (δ13C and δ15N) of soil and plants, the foliar phosphorus content and the growth and leaf biomass of the plants. Whilst no significant effect of biochar was observed on plant growth, biochar amendment affected soil properties and plant nutritional status. The highest rate of biochar application increased soil pH, C content and C/N ratio, and decreased soil δ13C. Biochar application also enhanced photosynthetic N use efficiency, as showed by the increase in foliar C/N ratio, and biological N fixation rates, as indicated by foliar δ15N. These positive effects were not observed when biochar was nutrient-enriched due to the associated increase in soil N. Revegetation of mine Sites with acacia in combination with biochar amendment constitutes a plausible alternative to the wide use of N fertiliser through the supply of additional N to the system, even though other nutrients may be required in order to enhance plant early growth.
Peter D. Erskine - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Remote Sensing of Mine Site Rehabilitation for Ecological Outcomes: A Global Systematic Review
Remote Sensing, 2020Co-Authors: Phillip Mckenna, Alex M. Lechner, Stuart R. Phinn, Peter D. ErskineAbstract:The mining industry has been operating across the globe for millennia, but it is only in the last 50 years that remote sensing technology has enabled the visualization, mapping and assessment of mining impacts and landscape recovery. Our review of published literature (1970–2019) found that the number of ecologically focused remote sensing studies conducted on mine Site Rehabilitation increased gradually, with the greatest proportion of studies published in the 2010–2019 period. Early studies were driven exclusively by Landsat sensors at the regional and landscape scales while in the last decade, multiple earth observation and drone-based sensors across a diverse range of study locations contributed to our increased understanding of vegetation development post-mining. The Normalized Differenced Vegetation Index (NDVI) was the most common index, and was used in 45% of papers; while research that employed image classification techniques typically used supervised (48%) and manual interpretation methods (37%). Of the 37 publications that conducted error assessments, the average overall mapping accuracy was 84%. In the last decade, new classification methods such as Geographic Object-Based Image Analysis (GEOBIA) have emerged (10% of studies within the last ten years), along with new platforms and sensors such as drones (15% of studies within the last ten years) and high spatial and/or temporal resolution earth observation satellites. We used the monitoring standards recommended by the International Society for Ecological Restoration (SER) to determine the ecological attributes measured by each study. Most studies (63%) focused on land cover mapping (spatial mosaic); while comparatively fewer studies addressed complex topics such as ecosystem function and resilience, species composition, and absence of threats, which are commonly the focus of field-based Rehabilitation monitoring. We propose a new research agenda based on identified knowledge gaps and the ecological monitoring tool recommended by SER, to ensure that future remote sensing approaches are conducted with a greater focus on ecological perspectives, i.e., in terms of final targets and end land-use goals. In particular, given the key Rehabilitation requirement of self-sustainability, the demonstration of ecosystem resilience to disturbance and climate change should be a key area for future research.
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response of open woodland and grassland mine Site Rehabilitation to fire disturbance on engineered landforms
Ecological Engineering, 2019Co-Authors: P. Mckenna, Peter D. Erskine, V. Glenn, David DoleyAbstract:The application of controlled fire on post-mine Rehabilitation is currently underutilised as an ecological tool throughout fire prone landscapes such as eastern Australia. Despite widely accepted benefits of fuel management and ecological outcomes, mined land managers are generally reluctant to incorporate fire regimes on rehabilitated lands. We applied an experimental fire to 117 ha of 19- to 21-year-old coal mine Rehabilitation in sub-tropical, semi-arid Central Queensland, Australia, and assessed the vegetation changes in five successive assessments for the two years following the burn. Vegetation metrics all showed trajectories towards pre-fire levels, or recovered to surpass pre-fire levels. Within two years of the burn, native species richness was significantly higher than pre-fire levels for both grassland and open woodland areas and vegetation cover had returned to pre-fire levels. Woody plant density (<2 m)increased from an average of 425–3,255 stems ha in open woodland areas reaching values higher than those recorded at unburnt historical transects (n = 145); while stems greater than 2 m in height declined from 585 to 220 ha due to the death of mature Acacia spp. The vegetative response following two wet seasons demonstrates short-term recovery following a range of fire impacts and demonstrates the potential to enhance the quality of the Rehabilitation and increase the possibility of early relinquishment by reducing ecological, financial and reputational risks.
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Response of open woodland and grassland mine Site Rehabilitation to fire disturbance on engineered landforms
Ecological Engineering, 2019Co-Authors: P. Mckenna, Peter D. Erskine, V. Glenn, David DoleyAbstract:The application of controlled fire on post-mine Rehabilitation is currently underutilised as an ecological tool throughout fire prone landscapes such as eastern Australia. Despite widely accepted benefits of fuel management and ecological outcomes, mined land managers are generally reluctant to incorporate fire regimes on rehabilitated lands. We applied an experimental fire to 117 ha of 19- to 21-year-old coal mine Rehabilitation in sub-tropical, semi-arid Central Queensland, Australia, and assessed the vegetation changes in five successive assessments for the two years following the burn. Vegetation metrics all showed trajectories towards pre-fire levels, or recovered to surpass pre-fire levels. Within two years of the burn, native species richness was significantly higher than pre-fire levels for both grassland and open woodland areas and vegetation cover had returned to pre-fire levels. Woody plant density (
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Fire Severity and Vegetation Recovery on Mine Site Rehabilitation Using WorldView-3 Imagery
Fire, 2018Co-Authors: Phillip Mckenna, Stuart R. Phinn, Peter D. ErskineAbstract:As open-cut coal mines progress towards closure, mining companies have an obligation to provide certainty to stakeholders that their rehabilitated landscapes have the capacity to withstand future disturbance impacts such as fire and drought. This paper describes the assessment of fire severity and recovery using WorldView-3 spectral indices following an experimental fire in a 19- to 21-year old coal mine Rehabilitation in semi-arid Central Queensland, Australia. In a highly heterogeneous reconstructed environment, the differenced Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (dNDVI) outperformed the differenced Normalized Burn Ratio (dNBR) with an overall map accuracy of 65% and 58%, respectively. The combination of red and near infra-red multispectral bands proved more effective at classifying severity compared with the shortwave infra-red, particularly when pre-fire imagery was dominated by highly cured grasses (>70%) and post-fire imagery contained a high coverage of residual ash. Recovery trends using spectral indices demonstrate the trajectory towards vegetation recovery, with 62% of the burnt Site demonstrating high regrowth in the first two years following fire. This is supported by in situ recovery trends of understory biomass suggesting that under the study conditions, the rehabilitated Site has the capacity to withstand impacts from a wildfire and recover to pre-fire levels.
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Opportunities and constraints of functional assessment of mined land Rehabilitation
Proceedings of the Eighth International Seminar on Mine Closure, 2013Co-Authors: Peter D. Erskine, Andrew Fletcher, Ben SeabornAbstract:This paper presents a general overview of the functional attributes of rehabilitated open-cut coal mine lands. It provides an evaluation of how classical soil analysis techniques and landscape function analysis (LFA) have been applied to ecosystems on heavily modified mined landscapes. It also compares the landscape position and placement of LFA transects to high-resolution imagery captured by an unmanned aerial vehicle. LFA was originally developed as a method for assessing soil surface conditions in the rangelands of Australia and has since been applied in other countries, ecosystems and, more recently, mine Sites. The method uses quickly observed soil surface features to estimate the status of three important soil functional processes (particularly stability, infiltration and nutrient cycling), which have been proposed as indicators of ecosystem Rehabilitation success. For mine Site Rehabilitation, LFA index scores are typically interpreted as trends over time and compared with unmined reference communities. This paper suggests that LFA transects and the LFA-generated scores do not adequately reflect the functional success of rehabilitated coal mine lands. The utility of these monitoring methods in constructed landscapes should be critically examined before future application.
D. Doepel - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Complexities with extractive industries regulation on the African continent: What has ‘best practice’ legislation delivered in South Africa?
The Extractive Industries and Society, 2017Co-Authors: R. Alberts, Jan-albert Wessels, Angus Morrison-saunders, Mark P. Mchenry, A. Rita Sequeira, H. Mtegha, D. DoepelAbstract:The legal framework for mine closure and Rehabilitation of new and former mine Sites in South Africa, including legacy abandoned Sites, is comprehensive. This paper discusses legislative provisions for mine Site Rehabilitation and closure in South Africa with reference to established international expectations. Overall, while the South African legislative framework for mine closure and Rehabilitation generally conforms with international expectations for best practice, the system is extremely complex and unwieldy. Many individual laws, regulations, and guidelines and their corresponding ministries applicable to mine closure planning and management in South Africa has created a complicated inter-connected raft of provisions and expectations. It is an open question whether the most recent amendments (December 2014), have untangled or rather added to the complexities. This historical complexity along with identified governance capacity constraints (financial, technical and experience based) likely explains why implementation of the legislative framework has fallen short of mine closure expectations and mandates. As South Africa is a jurisdiction on the African continent with much experience in mining, there are many lessons that are applicable to emerging countries in the region who wish to attract the benefits of the extractives industries and minimize their potential negative consequences.
Robin Tennant-wood - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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From wasteland to wetland: creating a community ecological resource from waste water in regional New South Wales
Local Environment, 2004Co-Authors: Robin Tennant-woodAbstract:In areas where rivers have been altered and regulated through dams, the effect on wetland ecosystems can lead to 'wastage' of the land as natural systems are destroyed. In response to the effects of streamflow regulation on a wetland near the city of Albury, on the Murray River, the development of the Wonga Wetlands and associated Site Rehabilitation addresses two key issues: wasteland and waste water. A Community Advisory Committee has been actively and directly involved in the project, initiated and implemented by the Albury City Council, to restore an area of original wetland into a community ecological resource that utilises 100% of the domestic, commercial and industrial urban 'waste' water from the city's water treatment plant. This project represents a significant direction in the way communities and local governments approach resource recovery. This paper analyses the Wonga Wetlands project from the perspective of sustainable management of waste in terms of water resources and presents it as a mod...
Jian Wang - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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a preliminary assessment of the potential of using an acacia biochar system for spent mine Site Rehabilitation
Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 2015Co-Authors: Frédérique Reverchon, Hong Yang, Guijun Yan, Jian Wang, Chengrong Chen, Dongke ZhangAbstract:Mining activities result in extensive soil degradation by removing the top soil, disturbing soil structure and altering microbial communities. Rehabilitation of spent mine Sites through revegetation thus requires proper soil amendments. In this study, a pot trial was conducted to investigate the effects of a jarrah biochar on the growth and nutrient status of a native legume, Acacia tetragonophylla, grown in a mixture of topsoil and mine rejects. Two biochar application rates (37 and 74 t ha−1) and two types of biochar, namely nutrient-enriched and non-enriched, were tested. We measured the soil pH and electrical conductivity, the carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) contents and C and N isotope composition (δ13C and δ15N) of soil and plants, the foliar phosphorus content and the growth and leaf biomass of the plants. Whilst no significant effect of biochar was observed on plant growth, biochar amendment affected soil properties and plant nutritional status. The highest rate of biochar application increased soil pH, C content and C/N ratio, and decreased soil δ13C. Biochar application also enhanced photosynthetic N use efficiency, as showed by the increase in foliar C/N ratio, and biological N fixation rates, as indicated by foliar δ15N. These positive effects were not observed when biochar was nutrient-enriched due to the associated increase in soil N. Revegetation of mine Sites with acacia in combination with biochar amendment constitutes a plausible alternative to the wide use of N fertiliser through the supply of additional N to the system, even though other nutrients may be required in order to enhance plant early growth.
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A preliminary assessment of the potential of using an acacia—biochar system for spent mine Site Rehabilitation
Environmental science and pollution research international, 2014Co-Authors: Frédérique Reverchon, Hong Yang, Guijun Yan, Jian Wang, Chengrong Chen, Dongke ZhangAbstract:Mining activities result in extensive soil degradation by removing the top soil, disturbing soil structure and altering microbial communities. Rehabilitation of spent mine Sites through revegetation thus requires proper soil amendments. In this study, a pot trial was conducted to investigate the effects of a jarrah biochar on the growth and nutrient status of a native legume, Acacia tetragonophylla, grown in a mixture of topsoil and mine rejects. Two biochar application rates (37 and 74 t ha−1) and two types of biochar, namely nutrient-enriched and non-enriched, were tested. We measured the soil pH and electrical conductivity, the carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) contents and C and N isotope composition (δ13C and δ15N) of soil and plants, the foliar phosphorus content and the growth and leaf biomass of the plants. Whilst no significant effect of biochar was observed on plant growth, biochar amendment affected soil properties and plant nutritional status. The highest rate of biochar application increased soil pH, C content and C/N ratio, and decreased soil δ13C. Biochar application also enhanced photosynthetic N use efficiency, as showed by the increase in foliar C/N ratio, and biological N fixation rates, as indicated by foliar δ15N. These positive effects were not observed when biochar was nutrient-enriched due to the associated increase in soil N. Revegetation of mine Sites with acacia in combination with biochar amendment constitutes a plausible alternative to the wide use of N fertiliser through the supply of additional N to the system, even though other nutrients may be required in order to enhance plant early growth.