Variability of environmental factors and the effects on vegetation diversity with different restoration years in a large open-pit phosphorite mine

Hou, Xiyong; Liu, Shiliang; Cheng, Fangyan; Su, Xukun; Dong, Shikui; Zhao, Shuang; Li, Guohua

doi:10.1016/j.ecoleng.2018.12.006

Cited by 20 publications

(9 citation statements)

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“…There was a greatest effect of site age on TFs (Hg and Cd), and their values were highest at the final stage. This result further confirmed the positive relationship between restoration age and the adsorption of heavy metal by plants in post‐mining areas (Hou et al, 2019). Hg and Cd are two elements with high toxicity.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 81%

“…Differences in plant life form are important for the efficiency of heavy metal uptake by plants (Bech et al, 2016; Hou et al, 2019). Similar to others (Bonanno, 2013; Eid, Shaltout, El‐Sheikh, & Asaeda, 2012), we found that trees accumulated (especially Pb, Ni, Cd, and Cr) and translocated (especially Cu and Zn) more heavy metals than shrubs.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In each plot, each plant was identified. We also measured the total layer coverage of each layer and the height of all individual plants following Hou et al (2019). To examine heavy metal concentrations, we collected plant tissues (root, stem, and leaf) of each study species following Bech et al (2016).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This can partly enhance the interaction between plants and soil environment, affect the bioavailability of heavy metals and reduce heavy metal content in soils. (Hou et al, 2019; Wang et al, 2018). For example, plants growing in post‐mining areas may affect soil particle composition and improve soil texture, which can activate the mobility of heavy metals, and thereby increase the plant's ability to accumulate heavy metals (Gan, Wang, Yang, Dai, & Wang, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Bech et al (2016) and Guarino et al (2019) showed that plants are more likely to absorb heavy metals in sites where a longer time had passed since mining ceased, whereas Wang and Zhang (2009) reported that the concentration of the heavy metals Cu, Zn, Pb, and Cd in soil decreased with site age, but the ability of plants to adsorb heavy metals was not significant. In addition, trees and shrubs had a more effective impact on heavy metal translocation over the long-term restoration compared to grasses (Aguado, Querejeta, Alcaraz, Cárceles, & Conesa, 2014), but many studies have focused on the short-term restoration effects of grass (Bech et al, 2016;Hou et al, 2019;Negrete et al, 2016). Less is known about the effects of woody plants, such as trees and shrubs.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effects of vegetation restoration on accumulation and translocation of heavy metals in post‐mining areas

Zhao

Qin

et al. 2021

Land Degrad Dev

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Vegetation restoration has been recognized as an effective ecological measure to mitigate soil heavy metal contamination in open-pit mining areas. However, little is known about the processes of accumulation and translocation of heavy metals in naturally restored soil-plant systems in these areas. In this study, soil and plant samples were collected from three natural restoration sites of different post-mining ages (2, 7, and 15 years) to investigate the concentration, accumulation, and translocation of heavy metals in plant tissues (roots, stems, and leaves) of two different plant life forms (trees and shrubs). The results showed that heavy metals occurred at different concentrations in different tissues; and that site age significantly affected the concentration of metals, with higher concentration in older sites. Similarly, the accumulation of metals from soil to roots and the translocation from roots to stems were greater in older sites. We combined redundancy analysis, correlation analysis and multiple regression analysis to determine the effect of environmental factors on accumulation and translocation. Results showed that plant life form took the largest weight for accumulation of Pb, Ni, Cd, and Cr, and for translocation of Ni, Cu, and Zn. Site age made the highest contribution to accumulation of As, and to translocation of Hg and Cd. The accumulation of Hg and translocation of Pb, As, and Cr were most affected by total phosphorus. Soil pH was the major contributor to accumulation of Cu and Zn. These findings could provide some reference for post-mining soil remediation, particularly for gold mines. K E Y W O R D S heavy metals, plant life form, plant tissues, post-mining sites, site age 1 | INTRODUCTION Mining activities have been recognized as the major driver associated with soil degradation (Acosta et al., 2011; Food and Agriculture Organization, 2015). In particular, heavy metal contamination of soils (e.g., Pb, Hg, Cd), which is harmful to environmental and human health, has been identified as one of the primary threats posed by mining activities (Li, Ma, Kuijp, Yuan, & Huang, 2014). It is estimated that the area of land contaminated by heavy metals resulting from mining activities has reached 1.5 million ha in China, and this area is increasing at a rate of 46,700 ha yr −1 (Zhuang, McBride, Xia, Li, & Li, 2009). Mining for gold is particularly bad for heavy metal contamination (such as Pb, Hg, As, Ni, Cd, Cr, Cu, and Zn), where over 99% of waste materials contain at least

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 81%