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    One giant leap for mankind: can ecopoiesis avert mine tailings disasters?

    Access Status
    Fulltext not available
    Authors
    Cross, Adam
    Stevens, Jason
    Dixon, Kingsley
    Date
    2017
    Type
    Journal Article
    
    Metadata
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    Citation
    Cross, A.T. and Stevens, J.C. and Dixon, K.W. 2017. One giant leap for mankind: can ecopoiesis avert mine tailings disasters? Plant and Soil. 421 (1-2): pp. 1-5.
    Source Title
    Plant and Soil
    DOI
    10.1007/s11104-017-3410-y
    ISSN
    0032-079X
    Faculty
    Faculty of Science and Engineering
    School
    School of Molecular and Life Sciences (MLS)
    Funding and Sponsorship
    http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/IC150100041
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/84685
    Collection
    • Curtin Research Publications
    Abstract

    Background: Mine tailings are among the most ecologically hostile byproducts of mining operations, with production generating alien substrates with significant cascading environmental and human welfare legacies. The rate of tailings production continues to increase globally, and this increase has occurred asynchronously with our capacity to ameliorate ecological hostility and implement successful restoration programs on tailings landforms. Scope: There is currently a lack of sufficient technology to deliver timely and cost-effective restoration outcomes to tailings landscapes. The decadal to millennial time scale of soil formation driven by natural pedogenic processes is at odds with the short mine closure timeframes (≤5 years) and aspirations of newly formulated international standards for the practice of ecological restoration. This lack of restoration capability places biodiversity at risk, and not only jeopardises the economic viability of the mining industry but also impacts upon its social and environmental license to mine. Conclusions: Delivery of successful ecosystem restoration on tailings requires a new paradigm of collaborative science-driven innovation. Could this be guided by the fundamental theory behind establishing life on other planets?

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    • Young calcareous soil chronosequences as a model for ecological restoration on alkaline mine tailings.
      Cross, Adam; Lambers, H. (2017)
      Tailings are artificial soil-forming substrates that have not been created by the natural processes of soil formation and weathering. The extreme pH environment and corresponding low availability of some macro- and ...
    • Compromised root development constrains the establishment potential of native plants in unamended alkaline post-mining substrates
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      © 2018, Springer Nature Switzerland AG. Background and aims: Mined materials often require rehabilitation or ecological restoration through revegetation as part of mine closure and relinquishment practices, yet there is ...
    • Initiating pedogenesis of magnetite tailings using Lupinus angustifolius (narrow-leaf lupin) as an ecological engineer to promote native plant establishment
      Zhong, Hongtao; Lambers, Hans; Wong, Wei San; Dixon, Kingsley ; Stevens, J.C.; Cross, Adam (2021)
      Mine tailings pose physical and chemical challenges for plant establishment. Our aim was to learn from natural processes in long-term soil and ecosystem development to use tailings as novel parent materials and pioneer ...
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