Barriers for plant establishment in the abandoned tailings of Nacozari, Sonora, Mexico: the influence of compost additio
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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Barriers for plant establishment in the abandoned tailings of Nacozari, Sonora, Mexico: the influence of compost addition on seedling performance and tailing properties Laura V. Arvizu-Valenzuela 1 & Rocio Cruz-Ortega 2 & Diana Meza-Figueroa 3 & René Loredo-Portales 4 & Bruno M. Chávez-Vergara 5,6 & Lucy N. Mora 5,6 & Francisco Molina-Freaner 1 Received: 19 July 2019 / Accepted: 22 June 2020 # Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract Past mining activities have left a legacy of abandoned mine tailing deposits whose metal contaminants poses serious risks to ecosystems and human health. While the development of a vegetated cover in mine tailings can help in mitigating these risks, the local factors limiting plant establishment in these sites are not well understood, restricting phytostabilization efforts. Here, we explore some of the barriers that limit seedling establishment of two species (Vachellia farnesiana and Prosopis velutina) in a mine tailing deposit located in Nacozari, Sonora, Mexico, and assess whether compost addition can help in overcoming these barriers in pot and field experiments. Our field observations found 20 times more carbon and at least 4 times more nitrogen concentration in areas under vegetated patches than in non-vegetated areas, while a previous study found no difference in metal concentrations and other physicochemical parameters. This suggests that organic matter and nutrients are a major limitation for plant establishment. In agreement with this, species failed to establish without compost addition in the field experiment. Compost addition also had a positive effect on biomass accumulation, pH and microbial activity, but increased the substrate soluble concentration of As, Cu, and Zn. Nonetheless, only Cu, K, and Mo in P. velutina accumulated in tissues at levels considered toxic for animal consumption. Our study documents that compost addition facilitated plant establishment for the phytostabilization of mine tailings and help to prevent the dispersion of most metal contaminants via animal consumption. We encourage the use of complementary strategies to minimize the risk of dispersion of metal contaminants. Keywords Mine tailings . Nutrients . Organic amendments . Phytostabilization . Prosopis velutina . Regeneration barriers . Vachellia farnesiana
Responsible editor: Elena Maestri Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-09841-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Francisco Molina-Freaner [email protected] 1
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Departamento de Ecología de la Biodiversidad, Instituto de Ecología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, C.P. 83250 Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico Departamento de Ecología Funcional, Instituto de Ecología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, C.P. 04510 Ciudad de México, Mexico Departamento de Geología, Universidad de Sonora, C.P. 83000 Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico
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CONACYT-Estación Regional del Noroeste, Instituto de Geo
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