TY - JOUR
T1 - Beneficial effects of earthworms and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi on establishment of leguminous trees on Pb/Zn mine tailings
AU - Ma, Y.
AU - Dickinson, N. M.
AU - Wong, M. H.
N1 - Funding Information:
The project was supported by the Research Grants Council (HKBU-2049/00M) of the University Grants Committee of Hong Kong. We thank Prof. J. Zhang, Mr. H.T. Poon, Dr. J. Guo and Dr. M. Jiang for their assistance with this work.
PY - 2006/6
Y1 - 2006/6
N2 - Planting trees to stabilize metalliferous mine tailings is a widely used form of land reclamation although substantial soil amendment is invariably required, both to improve the physico-chemical status of the tailings and to ameliorate toxicity prior to planting. Here, we report a glasshouse study of the combined effects of burrowing earthworms (Pheretima guillelmi) and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (Glomus spp., AMF) on establishment of a naturally invasive, woody, nitrogen-fixing legume, Leucaena leucocephala, on topsoil-amended Pb/Zn mine tailings. AMF provided the most effective preliminary inoculant, improving N, P and K uptake, but earthworms had more influence improving N nutrition. In most cases, the combined effects of AMF and earthworms were additive and proved to be beneficial to plant growth, plant nutrition and for protection against uptake of toxic metals. AMF influenced metal uptake more than earthworms, but together they reduced mobility of Pb and Zn in soil by as much as 25%. Some minor but significant negative interactions were also evident; for example, earthworms enhanced soil microbial activity but inhibited the beneficial effects of AMF on N2-fixation. We argue that increased attention to ecological interactions in soil could reduce costs and improve the efficacy of restoring a vegetation cover to land impacted by contaminated spoils.
AB - Planting trees to stabilize metalliferous mine tailings is a widely used form of land reclamation although substantial soil amendment is invariably required, both to improve the physico-chemical status of the tailings and to ameliorate toxicity prior to planting. Here, we report a glasshouse study of the combined effects of burrowing earthworms (Pheretima guillelmi) and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (Glomus spp., AMF) on establishment of a naturally invasive, woody, nitrogen-fixing legume, Leucaena leucocephala, on topsoil-amended Pb/Zn mine tailings. AMF provided the most effective preliminary inoculant, improving N, P and K uptake, but earthworms had more influence improving N nutrition. In most cases, the combined effects of AMF and earthworms were additive and proved to be beneficial to plant growth, plant nutrition and for protection against uptake of toxic metals. AMF influenced metal uptake more than earthworms, but together they reduced mobility of Pb and Zn in soil by as much as 25%. Some minor but significant negative interactions were also evident; for example, earthworms enhanced soil microbial activity but inhibited the beneficial effects of AMF on N2-fixation. We argue that increased attention to ecological interactions in soil could reduce costs and improve the efficacy of restoring a vegetation cover to land impacted by contaminated spoils.
KW - Leucaena leucocephala
KW - Mycorrhizae
KW - Pb
KW - Pheretima guillelmi
KW - Reclamation
KW - Zn
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=33646251110&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.soilbio.2005.10.016
DO - 10.1016/j.soilbio.2005.10.016
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:33646251110
SN - 0038-0717
VL - 38
SP - 1403
EP - 1412
JO - Soil Biology and Biochemistry
JF - Soil Biology and Biochemistry
IS - 6
ER -