Can erosion control blankets (geotextiles) aid vegetation establishment in mine restoration?

摘要

Establishing vegetation is a critical phase in the reclamation and restoration of disturbed sites. The canopy, stems and roots components of vegetation are able to protect and stabilise the landscape from slope degradation processes such as surface erosion, shallow mass movements and loss of organic matter. Slope erosion from plots with low growing, dense sward grasses can be as little as 0.4% of that from a bare soil equivalent. Creating a non-degrading, stable environment is vital for ecological restoration to take place successfully. However, establishing vegetation in erodible and erosive conditions characteristic of disturbed land is a major challenge for site managers, environmental engineers and landscape architects.Vegetation establishment aids include mulching; soil amendments and conditioners; hydro- and mulch-seeding; and erosion control blankets (geotextiles). This paper collates the results of several laboratory and field-scale experimental trials where the effectiveness of geotextiles in establishing vegetation has been monitored. The studies considered different geotextile products: natural versus synthetic; woven versus non-woven; and surface versus buried mode of installation. Other variables include soil type and seed mixes applied.