Variation in soil properties may influence diversity of invertebrate communities, a crucial component of every ecosystem, and their impact should be considered also in restoration management. Although most spoil heaps have been reclaimed after brown coal mining, some post-mining sites are left to natural succession. Little is known, however, about the effects of these two fundamentally different approaches on diversity of invertebrates inhabiting these stands. While controlling for habitat characteristics, we analyzed the effects of soil properties on species richness of seven invertebrate groups representing various trophic levels and diverse spatial niches at afforested spoil heaps and adjacent pits managed under these two basic restoration approaches in the North Bohemia Brown Coal Basin (Czech Republic, central Europe). Forty-seven percentage of 140 invertebrate species occurred on both reclamations and successions, but many were found exclusively on successions (37%) or reclamations (16%). The species richness of various groups was affected by different soil properties either independently of other variables or in interaction with microclimatic conditions or management history. These results imply a need for diverse management approaches in post-mining areas to support the diversity of invertebrate communities. Technical reclamations with artificial plantations and spontaneous forest development on bare substrate (thus creating mosaics of open patches and afforested stands with different soil deposit materials) were found to be reasonable alternatives to support invertebrate richness on post-mining forested stands. We conclude that these two approaches should properly be combined in practice.
Foam glass production process redounds to large quantities of waste that, if not recycled, are stockpiled in the environment. In this work, increasing amounts of waste foam glass were used to produce metakaolin-based alkali-activated composites. Phase composition and morphology were investigated by means of X-ray powder diffraction, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. Subsequently, the physical properties of the materials (density, porosity, thermal conductivity and mechanical strength) were determined. The analysis showed that waste foam glass functioned as an aggregate, introducing irregular voids in the matrix. The obtained composites were largely porous (>45%), with a thermal conductivity coefficient similar to that of timber (<0.2 W/m∙K). Optimum compressive strength was achieved for 10% incorporation of the waste by weight in the binder. The resulting mechanical properties suggest the suitability of the produced materials for use in thermal insulating applications where high load-bearing capacities are not required. Mechanical or chemical treatment of the waste is recommended for further exploitation of its potential in participating in the alkali activation process.
We describe the occurrence and possible origin of rare beds 1–10cm thick and containing 20–70% of crandallite, a Ca-Al phosphate enriched in Sr and Ba, found within otherwise monotonous clay-rich lacustrine sediments of the Most Basin in the Central-European Neogene Ohře Rift system. The beds were formed at ca. 17.31, 17.06, and 16.88Ma, while the entire suite of monotonous clays of the Libkovice Member was deposited between 17.46 and 16.65Ma. Trace-element and organic geochemistry, Ar-Ar geochronology and C-O-Sr isotope systematics are used to infer their source and processes leading to their formation. The most enigmatic aspect of the formation of the crandallite beds is the removal of a huge amount of phosphorus from its biogenic cycle in the lacustrine system, which was otherwise stable for ca. 0.8My. Formation of detritus-poor crandallite beds could result from some exceptional environmental disruptions that hindered transport of fine clastic material to the basin floor. Silicic volcanic activity in the area of the Pannonian Basin could have triggered this disruption. Crandallite could provide evidence of long-lasting droughts and acidification of the exogenic environment, as they are roughly coeval with the onset of the Miocene Climatic Optimum at ca. 17.0Ma.
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