Abstract
Purpose
Poor structure, nutrient deficiency, and acidification are core factors restricting the reclamation of rare earth mining wasteland soil (REMWS). Sewage sludge, bagasse, and molybdenum tailings, all of which need proper disposal, have great potentials in REMWS reclamation. The goal of this study was to explore the remediation effect on rare earth mining wasteland soil with the combined application of sewage sludge compost (SSC), bagasse, and modified molybdenum tailings (MMT).
Materials and methods
SSC (T1), SSC + bagasse (T2), and SSC + bagasse + MMT (T3) were applied in REMWS as amendments in a 4-month pot experiment, and their effects on REMWS properties and heavy metals (HMs) toxicity were tested with Eucalyptus urophylla, which grows fast, resists environment stress, and is a promising plant in REMWS reclamation.
Results
The application of SSC (T1) improved REMWS fertility, but increased Cu, Zn, Cd, and Ni contents in soil and E. urophylla seedlings, and inhibited E. urophylla growth. Bagasse application (T2) alleviated growth inhibition and further addition of bagasse + MMT (T3) significantly improved E. urophylla growth. Moreover, T3 improved soil physical properties, organic carbon content, pH, and reduced soil HMs bioavailability and plant HMs content as compared to T1 and T2. Structural equation modeling results revealed that plant nutrient accumulation increased plant HMs accumulation, the latter inhibited plant nutrient accumulation in turn, and soil pH played a key role in retarding HMs uptake and improving E. urophylla growth and nutrients uptake.
Conclusion
These results suggested that the combined application of SSC, bagasse, and MMT is an effective approach for REMWS amelioration and land disposal of solid waste resources.
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Data availability
The data is not available at this time as the data forms part of an ongoing study.
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Funding
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no. 31971629, 42177011, 41807112) and the Forestry Science and Technology Innovation Project of Guangdong Province (2022KJCX015).
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Jiayi Feng: methodology, data curation, writing—original draft. Yuantong Yang: methodology, data curation. Kejin Ruan: investigation. Daoming Wu: investigation. Yanggui Xu: investigation. Douglass F. Jacobs: writing—review and editing. Shucai Zeng: Supervision, writing—review and editing, funding acquisition.
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Feng, J., Yang, Y., Ruan, K. et al. Combined application of sewage sludge, bagasse, and molybdenum tailings ameliorates rare earth mining wasteland soil. J Soils Sediments 23, 1775–1788 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-023-03437-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-023-03437-7