Indigenous trees restore soil microbial biomass at faster rates than exotic species

Open pit mining for natural resources is one of the major contributors to heavily disturbed landscapes (Shrestha and Lal 2006). Every year, mining activities impact an area of 2 million hectares worldwide (FAO 2006). Characteristically, mining activities result in a vegetation free landscape with a highly disturbed soil environment, characterized by soil that has been removed, homogenized, stored in mounds, and then replaced after mining activities have ended. This disturbance has been shown to strongly decrease the biomass and diversity of soil microbial communities (Banning and Murphy 2008; Jangid et al. 2011), thus impacting on nutrient cycles and other soil functions. Restoration strategies are typically based on aboveground measures, as a result the assessment of restoration success has, in the past, mainly focused on aboveground vegetation (Mummey et al. 2002a; Andrews and Broome 2006). However, the soil microbial community plays a vital role in maintaining both soil health and aboveground productivity, and should therefore be considered in any evaluation of restoration impacts (Ponder and Tadros 2002; Mummey et al. 2002b).Particularly in monoculture restoration, species selection decisions that are made in the first step of the restoration process might be crucial to the later establishment of the ecosystem. A number of studies have shown that during the process of restoring disturbed landscapes with natural vegetation, soil communities become more alike to undisturbed ecosystems over time (DeGrood et al. 2005; Banning et al. 2011). Vegetation was found to be a major driving factor in soil community restoration. Rodriguez-Lionaz et al. (2008) observed a positive correlation between plant diversity and soil enzyme activity, as well as soil functional diversity, in different forest systems, highlighting the link between aboveground vegetation and soil community dynamics. Jiang et al. (2012) reported significantly greater catabolic diversity and function of the soil communities of broad-leaf plantations than those of coniferous plantations, indicating an improved restoration of soil quality under broad-leaf trees. Similarly, Chodak and Nikliska (2010) observed a lower microbial biomass, as well as a reduction in the soil respiration, in coniferous stands compared with that of broad-leaf monocultures. A better understanding on how plant species selection affects the soil community composition, and soil function, during the restoration process is crucial in order to ensure the long-term success of restoration.

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DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-015-2570-x

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