Nitrogen limitation and calcifuge plant strategies constrain the establishment of native vegetation on magnetite mine tailings

Seed and Seedling Detection Using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and Automated Image Classification in the Monitoring of Ecological Recovery

“…This color variability resulted in the manual classification of seeds and seedlings from dark and high red-ratio treatments being more challenging than for control and textured treatments, and a greater number of misclassifications during automated object classification. Future studies should field-test the efficacy of automated seed and seedling classification from imagery captured over real-world restoration trials, as restoration substrates commonly exhibit high surface heterogeneity resulting from land-forming activities, ripping and the inclusion of rocky material and woody debris [29,34].…”

“…The techniques described in this study for classifying individual seeds broadcast in restoration areas have significant applicability to large-scale ecological monitoring, as results clearly demonstrate that large and distinctive seeds can be easily be distinguished from background substrates. Restoration projects commonly identify keystone taxa, including rare, threatened or structurally or functionally important species [27], and the seeds of these species are sometimes polymer coated (often in distinctive colors) in order to improve seed delivery or reduce seed predation [29,30]. The monitoring of seeds post broadcasting could be important for adaptive management in ecological restoration [2]; for example, repeated surveys of seeded areas could allow for accurate estimates of seed predation rates, and for examining differences in seedling establishment success among different microhabitats.…”

“…Monitoring needs can be idiosyncratic and complex between different sites, as project requirements can be influenced by factors such as substrate, local vegetation communities and landforms [28]; a 'dark' treatment of undisturbed local sandy soil capped with a 1 cm layer of tailings generated from the processing of magnetite ore [29]; and a 'high red-ratio' treatment of undisturbed local sandy soil capped with a 1 cm layer of red clay loam soil from a mine site in the Midwest region of Western Australia [28]. All capping materials were sourced from a major magnetite mining operation located approximately 400 km northeast of Perth, Western Australia.…”

“…Additionally, to examine whether seed and seedling detection rates were affected by surface topography, half of each treatment plot was manually ripped to a depth of 20 cm, using a backhoe ( Figure 1) to mimic standard ripping practices in post-mining restoration [27]. crushed overburden rock (2-20 cm in size, giving increased surface heterogeneity) used to rock armor the slopes of restoration landforms [28]; a 'dark' treatment of undisturbed local sandy soil capped with a 1 cm layer of tailings generated from the processing of magnetite ore [29]; and a 'high red-ratio' treatment of undisturbed local sandy soil capped with a 1 cm layer of red clay loam soil from a mine site in the Midwest region of Western Australia [28]. All capping materials were sourced from a major magnetite mining operation located approximately 400 km northeast of Perth, Western Australia.…”

Best served deep: The seedbank from salvaged topsoil underscores the role of the dispersal filter in restoration practice

“…Topsoil microbiota could interact with ecological filters present on restoration sites, for example, by forming mutualistic associations and increasing uptake of essential nutrients by emerging plants (Burkle & Belote, 2015;Cross et al, 2019).…”