Hinz, C, Gwenzi, W, McGrath, G, Veneklaas, E & Scanlan, C 2009, 'Soil-vegetation feedbacks as a driver for early ecosystems development in the context of mine site rehabilitation', in AB Fourie & M Tibbett (eds), Mine Closure 2009: Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Mine Closure, Australian Centre for Geomechanics, Perth, pp. 431-438, https://doi.org/10.36487/ACG_repo/908_32
(https://papers.acg.uwa.edu.au/p/908_32_Hinz/)
Abstract: Highly disturbed ecosystems may undergo rapid changes due to the interaction between vegetation and soil 
that play a pivotal role for the water balance. This is particular true for water-limited ecosystems for which 
water availability determines biomass. Based on a review of how vegetation growth affects soil hydraulic 
properties, the authors propose a simple conceptual model that captures the feedbacks between soil water 
storage in soil and soil hydraulic behaviour and vegetation biomass. The feedbacks that were considered are 
(i) vegetation biomass and soil water storage, (ii) root growth and infiltration capacity, (iii) vegetation 
biomass and bare soil evaporation, and (iv) root growth and soil water drainage. In water-limited 
environments, these feedbacks are responsible for highly organised vegetation patterns in space and may 
also lead to oscillating behaviour of soil water storage and vegetation biomass in time. Biomass 
overshooting as a result of initially high soil water content is predicted, which is consistent with observations 
made in forested catchments after clearing or during revegetation of mine tailings. Implications of these 
feedbacks for predicting the early development of rehabilitated sites will be discussed.