(physical, nutritional, or toxicity-related) highlighted in the analysis of the original
site be solved.
For example, the development of pyrite acidity contained in the waste material
can make the freshly installed new ecosystem rapidly enter degeneration. The only
solution is to add sufficient amounts of calcium carbonate (limestone, chalk) and to
pursue any new generation of acidity. There will be no complete ecosystem in 1 year,
even if it is a simple ecosystem like a green grassland. It is very difficult to create a
completely fertile, completely biological soil in a single year starting from waste,
except when there is a substantial layer of vegetal soil added over preexisting waste
or organic material brought elsewhere (sludge sewage, compost). Such additions can
only be made on a small scale. Soil has to be built over a period of years, with
particular attention being paid to soil-forming processes. The requirement is not the
formation of a soil that is fully developed in the pedological sense (which can take
thousands of years) but a fully developed soil in the biological sense. This means that
the soil formed has adequate content of OM and especially nitrogen, associated with
active mineralization processes.
Normal ecosystems in the temperate region require about 150 kg of nitrogen per
hectare per year. It can usually only be produced if the nitrogen is 10 times higher in
the soil, resulting in a minimum amount of nitrogen required in the soil of 1000
kg/ha, linked to a large amount of OM.
Such a soil can only be formed if in the growing ecosystem among the plant
species there are legumes or other nitrogen fixation plants. These may no longer be
necessary in the final part of ecosystem development, but, in the initial part, the
nitrogen sequestration species should be not only present among the sown or planted
ones; they should be appropriate to the concrete conditions so that they are
maintained and the contribution their nitrogen fixation to be durable.
Care should be taken to treat fertilizers and also to mowing or grazing. In the case
of forest ecosystems, the same actions should also be taken into account for the
sapping and sowing actions of the saplings. All this will ensure the satisfactory
growth rate in the developing ecosystem, a satisfactory production of OM both on
the surface and inside the forming soil (about 10,000 kg/ha/year). This OM, along
with the current penetration of the roots into the soil and the activity of the soilfeeding animals organic, will be particularly important in developing a proper soil
structure that is most often a problem in degraded lands. Improving the structure,
along with the surface carpet, will reduce the erosion of the land. In freshly
populated land, it is often found that, after a very good start, the rate of growth
decreases over the next period to very low levels due to inadequate care.
Some species are more tolerant than others at lack of maintenance: in the
temperate zone are the leguminous Sarothamnus scoparius and Ulex europaeus
(tolerant to acidity and phosphorus deficiency). The need for further maintenance of
vegetation is an integral part of the rehabilitation process and even of the decision on
the way of rehabilitation (Pelfrêne et al. 2015).
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M. Butu et al.
site be solved.
For example, the development of pyrite acidity contained in the waste material
can make the freshly installed new ecosystem rapidly enter degeneration. The only
solution is to add sufficient amounts of calcium carbonate (limestone, chalk) and to
pursue any new generation of acidity. There will be no complete ecosystem in 1 year,
even if it is a simple ecosystem like a green grassland. It is very difficult to create a
completely fertile, completely biological soil in a single year starting from waste,
except when there is a substantial layer of vegetal soil added over preexisting waste
or organic material brought elsewhere (sludge sewage, compost). Such additions can
only be made on a small scale. Soil has to be built over a period of years, with
particular attention being paid to soil-forming processes. The requirement is not the
formation of a soil that is fully developed in the pedological sense (which can take
thousands of years) but a fully developed soil in the biological sense. This means that
the soil formed has adequate content of OM and especially nitrogen, associated with
active mineralization processes.
Normal ecosystems in the temperate region require about 150 kg of nitrogen per
hectare per year. It can usually only be produced if the nitrogen is 10 times higher in
the soil, resulting in a minimum amount of nitrogen required in the soil of 1000
kg/ha, linked to a large amount of OM.
Such a soil can only be formed if in the growing ecosystem among the plant
species there are legumes or other nitrogen fixation plants. These may no longer be
necessary in the final part of ecosystem development, but, in the initial part, the
nitrogen sequestration species should be not only present among the sown or planted
ones; they should be appropriate to the concrete conditions so that they are
maintained and the contribution their nitrogen fixation to be durable.
Care should be taken to treat fertilizers and also to mowing or grazing. In the case
of forest ecosystems, the same actions should also be taken into account for the
sapping and sowing actions of the saplings. All this will ensure the satisfactory
growth rate in the developing ecosystem, a satisfactory production of OM both on
the surface and inside the forming soil (about 10,000 kg/ha/year). This OM, along
with the current penetration of the roots into the soil and the activity of the soilfeeding animals organic, will be particularly important in developing a proper soil
structure that is most often a problem in degraded lands. Improving the structure,
along with the surface carpet, will reduce the erosion of the land. In freshly
populated land, it is often found that, after a very good start, the rate of growth
decreases over the next period to very low levels due to inadequate care.
Some species are more tolerant than others at lack of maintenance: in the
temperate zone are the leguminous Sarothamnus scoparius and Ulex europaeus
(tolerant to acidity and phosphorus deficiency). The need for further maintenance of
vegetation is an integral part of the rehabilitation process and even of the decision on
the way of rehabilitation (Pelfrêne et al. 2015).
112
M. Butu et al.