Authors: Mundodi, L; Yellishetty, M; Wong, V; Walmsley, A; Missen, J; Anderson, N

Open access courtesy of:

DOI https://doi.org/10.36487/ACG_rep/1915_58_Mundodi

Cite As:
Mundodi, L, Yellishetty, M, Wong, V, Walmsley, A, Missen, J & Anderson, N 2019, 'Growth of rye grass and clover in artificial topsoils: a case study', in AB Fourie & M Tibbett (eds), Mine Closure 2019: Proceedings of the 13th International Conference on Mine Closure, Australian Centre for Geomechanics, Perth, pp. 733-740, https://doi.org/10.36487/ACG_rep/1915_58_Mundodi

Download citation as:   ris   bibtex   endnote   text   Zotero


Abstract:
The Latrobe Valley region of eastern Victoria houses three major mines which burns lignite for power generation and is referred to as the power house of Victoria. These mines are looking for sustainable ways to manage their waste and achieve successful mine rehabilitation. One of the problems to be addressed for attaining successful mine rehabilitation is the scarcity of topsoils for vegetation cover. The possible solution for overcoming this problem is the use of artificial topsoils (ATS) developed using waste streams, i.e. overburden, interseam brown coal, ash from the onsite powerplant and nearby paper industry waste i.e. effluent sewage recovery (ESR). Field lysimeter experiments with ATS proved that there is no leachate toxicity but the plant available nutrients were relatively low. Hence, clear understanding of ATS as a substrate for vegetation should be examined before applying it in the field. In a recent study, we tested the growth of rye grass, clover and rye grass + clover mixture in ATS with and without addition of nitrogen-phosphorous-potassium fertilizer (NPK) in a greenhouse experiment compared to control, i.e. overburden, overburden + ash, natural topsoil. The results after 12 weeks indicate that the height of rye grass in ATS with NPK is 2.7 cm higher than the height of rye grass in natural topsoil and is 16 and 17 cm higher than the growth of rye grass in overburden and overburden + ash mixture respectively. The height of clover in ATS with NPK is 1 cm higher than the clover grown in natural topsoil and around 5 cm more than the height of clover in overburden and overburden + ash mixture. The germination in ATS was slightly delayed as compared to natural topsoil due to higher exchangeable sodium percent in soil, but the presence of NPK in ATS later aided in survival and growth of grass and clover. The initial results from these experiments show that ATS with addition of NPK can be a potential solution in mine rehabilitation and can be used as a substrate for revegetation.

Keywords: mine rehabilitation, artificial topsoil, growth

References:
Aggelides, SM & Londra, PA 2000, 'Effects of compost produced from town wastes and sewage sludge on the physical properties of a loamy and a clay soil', Bioresource Technology, vol. 71, no. 3, pp. 253–259,
Agriculture Victoria 1997, Salinity and the growth of forage species, Victoria State Government, viewed 20 May 2019,
Beesley, L, Moreno-Jimenez, E, Gomez-Eyles, JL, Harris, E, Robinson, B & Sizmur, T 2011, 'A review of biochars' potential role in the remediation, revegetation and restoration of contaminated soils', Environmental Pollution, vol. 159, no. 12, pp. 3269–3282,
Bleeker, PM, Assuncao, AGL, Teiga, PM, De Koe, T & Verkleij, JAC 2002, 'Revegetation of the acidic, As contaminated Jales mine spoil tips using a combination of spoil amendments and tolerant grasses', Science of the Total Environment, vol. 300, no.1,
pp. 1-13,
Feng, Y, Wang, J, Bai, Z & Reading, L 2019, 'Effects of surface coal mining and land reclamation on soil properties: A review', Earth-Science Reviews, vol. 191, pp. 12–25,
Jala, S & Goyal, D 2006, 'Fly ash as a soil ameliorant for improving crop production—a review', Bioresource Technology, vol. 97, no. 9, pp. 1136–1147,
Hazelwood Mine Fire Inquiry 2016, Hazelwood Mine Fire Inquiry 2015/2016 Volume IV – Mine Rehabilitation, Government of Victoria, Victoria.
Lakhdar, A, Hafsi, C, Rabhi, M, Debez, A, Montemurro, F, Abdelly, C & Ouerghi, Z 2008,' Application of municipal solid waste compost reduces the negative effects of saline water in Hordeum maritimum L', Bioresource Technology, vol. 99, no. 15,
pp. 7160–7167,
Liu, C, Liu, Y, Guo, K, Qiao, X, Zhao, H, Wang, S & Cai, X 2018,' Effects of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium addition on the productivity of a karst grassland: Plant functional group and community perspectives', Ecological Engineering, vol. 117,
pp. 84–95,
Pardo, T, Bernal, MP & Clemente, R 2014,' Efficiency of soil organic and inorganic amendments on the remediation of a contaminated mine soil: I. Effects on trace elements and nutrients solubility and leaching risk', Chemosphere, vol. 107, pp. 121–128,
Park, JH, Edraki, M, Mulligan, D & Jang, HS 2014,'The application of coal combustion by-products in mine site rehabilitation', Journal of Cleaner Production, vol. 84, pp. 761–772,
Patti, A, Rose, M, Little, K, Jackson, R & Cavagnaro, T 2014. 'Evaluating Lignite-Derived Products (LDPs) for Agriculture - Does Research Inform Practice?', Proceedings of General Assemblies of the European Geosciences Union (EGU), Vienna, Austria, vol 16, id 10165.
Pena, A, Mingorance, MD & Rossini-Oliva, S 2015,' Soil quality improvement by the establishment of a vegetative cover in a mine soil added with composted municipal sewage sludge', Journal of Geochemical Exploration, vol. 157, pp. 178–183,
Ramteke, A, Narwade, ML, Gurav, AB, Chavan, SP & Wandre, AG 2013, Study of germination effect of fertilizers like urea NPK and biozyme on some vegetable plant, Pelagia Research Library Publishing, Washington.
Saha, BK, Rose, MT, Wong, VNL, Cavagnaro,TR & Patti, AF 2018,' Nitrogen Dynamics in Soil Fertilized with Slow Release Brown Coal-Urea Fertilizers', Scientific Reports, vol. 8, no. 14577, pp. 1–10.
Saha, BK, Rose, MT, Wong, VNL, Cavagnaro, TR & Patti AF 2019,' A slow release brown coal-urea fertiliser reduced gaseous N loss from soil and increased silver beet yield and N uptake', Science of The Total Environment, vol. 649, pp. 793–800.
Sargeant, IJ & Imhof, MP 2000, Major Agricultural Soils of the West Gippsland Region, Department of Primary Industries, Victoria.
Sobek, AA, Sculler, WA, Freeman, JR & Smith, R 1978, Field and laboratory methods applicable to overburden and mine soils, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington.
Wu, D, Feng, J, Chu, S, Jacobs, DF, Tong, X, Zhao, Q & Zeng, S 2019, 'Integrated application of sewage sludge, earthworms and Jatropha curcas on abandoned rare-earth mine land soil', Chemosphere, vol. 214, pp. 47-54,




© Copyright 2024, Australian Centre for Geomechanics (ACG), The University of Western Australia. All rights reserved.
View copyright/legal information
Please direct any queries or error reports to repository-acg@uwa.edu.au