Is soil carbon being sequestered along a reconstructed biodiverse Australian jarrah forest chronosequence following bauxite mining?

摘要

Restoring native vegetation and ecosystem processes, such as nutrient cycling, within the soil to pre-mined levels is of high priority. Carbon (C) is one aspect of the soil that is affected by the mining and rehabilitation process. Soil organic matter is difficult to isolate and measure because of its complexity and heterogeneity. Many techniques have been devised to fractionate C into conceptual pools based on their turnover times within soil. The measurement of these pools of C can give an indication of the methods of stabilisation within an ecosystem. Accumulation, distribution and soil C quality in post-mined rehabilitation was studied at BHP Billiton's Worsley Alumina's Boddington Bauxite Mine in southwestern Australia and benchmarked to adjacent unmined northern jarrah forest soils.