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Biogeochemical cycling of soil phosphorus during natural revegetation of Pinus sylvestris on disused sand quarries in Northwestern Russia

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Abstract

Background and aims

Quarrying causes severe degradation of soils and vegetation that can be recovered partially when the quarries are abandoned and re-colonised by plants. To understand the recovery of soil functionality and nutrient cycling, we studied the development of soil phosphorus pools during Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) revegetation in a disused sand quarry in Northwestern Russia.

Methods

Sites that had been developing for different times since abandonment were compared to the parent sand and an adjacent undisturbed forest. Phosphorus speciation in genetic horizons of soil profiles was determined by sequential fractionation and solution phosphorus-31 nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

Results

Rapid transformations in soil properties occurred in 40 years, with a marked decline in pH and an accumulation of organic matter. Phosphorus transformations were shaped by geochemical processes, with a rapid release of inorganic phosphorus from primary minerals and accumulation of organic phosphorus to concentrations exceeding those found in the undisturbed site. Adsorbed and/or precipitated phosphorus increased rapidly, despite few reactive mineral colloidal surfaces.

Conclusions

Natural succession of Scots pine in post-mining landscapes promotes ecosystem restoration through the rapid re-establishment of the biogeochemical cycles of organic matter and phosphorus. This study provides an important example of biogeochemical phosphorus cycling during the initial stages of pedogenesis.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Evgeniy V. Abakumov for field support and useful discussion of the Staraja Maluxa spoil-bank quarry sites. We thank also Antonio Gandino for laboratory analysis. This work was funded by the EU-INCO project n°013388.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Agricultural, Forestry and Food Sciences, University of Torino, via Leonardo da Vinci 44, 10095, Grugliasco, Torino, Italy

    L. Celi, S. Santoni & E. Bonifacio

  2. University of Amsterdam, IBED-ESS, Science Park 904, 1098 XH, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    C. Cerli

  3. Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancon, Republic of Panama

    B. L. Turner

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  1. L. Celi
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  2. C. Cerli
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  3. B. L. Turner
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  4. S. Santoni
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  5. E. Bonifacio
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Correspondence to L. Celi.

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Responsible Editor: Leo M. Condron.

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Celi, L., Cerli, C., Turner, B.L. et al. Biogeochemical cycling of soil phosphorus during natural revegetation of Pinus sylvestris on disused sand quarries in Northwestern Russia. Plant Soil 367, 121–134 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-013-1627-y

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