Ecological Performance of the Restored South East New Territories (SENT) Landfill in Hong Kong (2000–2012)

Abstract

South East New Territories (SENT) landfill (Phase I) was saturated with wastes and capped with a cover system to prevent rainfall infiltration and gas emission and to support plant growth. Subsequently, a revegetation program was conducted in 1997. Line transects were used for monitoring (i) the restored area (AT), (ii) the area adjacent to AT (BT) and (iii) the area outside AT, which served as control (CT). Flora and fauna diversities, plant performance (chlorophyll florescent and stomatal resistance of Acacia confusa) and soil properties were monitored during 2000-2012. There were 28, 24 and 23 plant species, and 61, 39 and 61 animal species found at AT, BT and CT during the past 13 years, respectively. The total number of plants recorded at AT fluctuated considerably, and was more stable at BT, especially CT. The results of similarity analyses showed that the plant community at AT were significantly different (P < 0·01) from those at BT and CT, whereas no difference was noted among fauna communities at different sites. Soil properties, including pH, bulk density, moisture content, total organic content, organic matter, total Fe and total Zn were significantly different (P < 0·05) among sites. The decreasing trend of soil pH in all sites indicated that regional soil acidification may have occurred. Soil moisture content and stomatal resistance of A. confusa were negatively correlated, which showed that AT was more subjected to drought than BT and CT. Plants in restored area were more sensitive to the changes in environmental conditions compared with those of control site. a Suffixed to the name of species indicate exotic/pioneer species. Names of species underlined represent native species.

Soil contamination in landfills: a case study of a landfill in Czech Republic

“…Land degradation caused by human activities has significant adverse effects on the environments and ecosystems worldwide (Thomaz and Luiz, 2012;Bai et al, 2013;Li et al, 2013;Chen et al, 2015), and solid waste is an important and emerging environmental problem. It was estimated that 0.5-4.5 kg per person per day of solid waste is produced in different regions of the world (Bakare et al, 2005;Swati et al, 2014).…”

Effect of polluted water on soil and plant contamination by heavy metals in El-Mahla El-Kobra, Egypt

“…Contamination of soils by heavy metals is now widespread (AlNagger et al, 2013). Land degradation caused by heavy metals has significant adverse effects on the environment and ecosystem worldwide (Li et al, 2013;Chen et al, 2015). Dispersion of heavy metals in irrigated soils and the plants that are growing results in the contamination of food that may be hazardous to humans and animals (Jolly et al, 2013).…”

Landfill site suitability assessment by means of geographic information system analysis

“…Restoration of sanitary and non-sanitary landfills is necessary to minimize adverse impacts on the environment (Do et al, 2013). To provide scientific data for future restoration management, Chen et al (2015) compared the ecological performances between natural sites and revegetated landfill sites and showed that, during the study period, there was a gradual change in the plant communities at restored sites and an increase in biodiversity. Research has also shown that exotic plant species may be more suitable for use as pioneer species in the restoration of sanitary landfills (Wong et al, 2015b) and also pioneer native species were much better than other native species (Wong et al, 2015a).…”