Soil nematode communities and functions: Ecological package restoration responses in damaged desert steppe open‐pit mining ecosystems

Abstract

Ecological restoration of open-pit mine wasteland is critical to the sustainable development of the mining industry. Using high-throughput sequencing, we analyzed soil properties and nematode community structure and function to evaluate the impact of ecological package restoration on the quality of underground ecosystem reclamation in desert steppe open-pit mine wasteland. After 7 years of ecological package restoration at an open-pit quarry, two management methods (annual removal of dominant plant genera and annual reseeding of missing plants) achieved the expected outcomes of the restoration project (return to the conditions of the pre-disturbed ecosystem). Based on LEfSe multi-level discriminant analysis and shared genera analysis, we suggest that Oxydirus, Dorylaimus, Trichotylenchus, Plectus, Scutylenchus, Paratylenchus, Tylencholaimus, and Cephalobus may be the key soil nematode genera in the damaged open-pit quarry ecosystem. We also evaluated the soil health status of different ecological package restoration time periods (2 and 5 years) at an abandoned desert steppe open-pit iron mine by analysis of the soil properties and nematode communities. We suggest that ecological package restoration for 5 years achieved the expected restoration outcomes in the open-pit iron mine wasteland. Based on LEfSe analysis and shared genera analysis, we suggest that Acrobeles, Microdorylaimus, Cehalobus, Tripylina, and Ecumenicus may be the key soil nematode genera in the damaged open-pit iron mine ecosystem. Our findings provide a reference for evaluating the reclamation effect of ecological package restoration in open-pit mine areas.

Exploring the effects of warming and nitrogen deposition on desert steppe based on soil nematodes

“…Soil pH, moisture content, nitrate (NO 3 − ), ammonium (NH 4 + ), total C and total N were determined using internationally accepted methods (Gao, Liu, et al, 2022a; Han et al, 2021).…”

The Impact of Artificial Restoration of Alpine Grasslands in the Qilian Mountains on Vegetation, Soil Bacteria, and Soil Fungal Community Diversity

“…The study area is situated within the eastern end of the Qilian Mountains Nature Reserve, in the southwestern part of the Tianzhu Tibetan Autonomous County, Gansu Province, China. Specifically, it encompasses the Qianmalong coal mining area, with a total area of 1.0235 km 2 . The Qianmalong coal mine commenced operations in 2014, with an annual production capacity of 90,000 t. Mining operations reached depths between Microorganisms 2024, 12, 854 3 of 20 2620 and 2800 m before being officially closed in April 2017 due to policy reasons [18].…”

“…Largescale mining activities began in the early 1980s, resulting in extensive environmental degradation due to excessive mining within the Qilian Mountains. Consequently, the alpine grassland ecosystem in the mining areas became highly sensitive and fragile, with severe damage to vegetation diversity and soil [2,3]. Remnants of mining activities have left the surrounding ecological environment compromised, with numerous slag heaps scattered throughout river channels and adjacent grasslands, leading to varying degrees of degradation in vegetation and soil quality [4,5].…”

Exploring the optimal grazing intensity in desert steppe based on soil nematode community and function

“…The total DNA content present in the soil samples was extracted following the instructions of the EZNA soil kit (Omega Bio-Tek, Norcross, GA, USA). The sequences D2A 5 0 -ACAAGTACCGTGAGGGAAAGT-3 0 and D3B 5 0 -TGCGAAGGAACCAGCTACTA-3 0 were used for amplification of the 28S rDNA highly conserved region (Gao et al, 2022;Han et al, 2021;Nunn, 1992). The Shanghai Meiji Biomedical Technology Co., Ltd. performed the sequencing using the MiSeq PE300 platform (Illumina).…”