Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Geotechnical systems that evolve with ecological processes

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Environmental Earth Sciences Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Geotechnical systems, such as landfills, mine tailings storage facilities (TSFs), slopes, and levees, are required to perform safely throughout their service life, which can span from decades for levees to “in perpetuity” for TSFs. The conventional design practice by geotechnical engineers for these systems utilizes the as-built material properties to predict its performance throughout the required service life. The implicit assumption in this design methodology is that the soil properties are stable through time. This is counter to long-term field observations of these systems, particularly where ecological processes such as plant, animal, biological, and geochemical activity are present. Plant roots can densify soil and/or increase hydraulic conductivity, burrowing animals can increase seepage, biological activity can strengthen soil, geochemical processes can increase stiffness, etc. The engineering soil properties naturally change as a stable ecological system is gradually established following initial construction, and these changes alter system performance. This paper presents an integrated perspective and new approach to this issue, considering ecological, geotechnical, and mining demands and constraints. A series of data sets and case histories are utilized to examine these issues and to propose a more integrated design approach, and consideration is given to future opportunities to manage engineered landscapes as ecological systems. We conclude that soil scientists and restoration ecologists must be engaged in initial project design and geotechnical engineers must be active in long-term management during the facility’s service life. For near-surface geotechnical structures in particular, this requires an interdisciplinary perspective and the embracing of soil as a living ecological system rather than an inert construction material.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Albright W, Benson C, Gee G, Roesler A, Abichou T, Apiwantragoon P, Lyles B, Rock S (2004) Field water balance of landfill final covers. J Environ Qual 33:2317–2332

  • American Society for Testing and Materials (1985) Classification of Soils for Engineering Purposes: Annual Book of ASTM Standards, D 2487-83, pp 395–408

  • Ashman MR, Puri G (2002) Essential soil science. Blackwell science Ltd., Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Baecher BG (1982) Statistical methods in site characterization. In: Updating Subsurface Sampling of Soils and Rocks and their In-Situ Testing, Engineering Foundation, Santa Barbara, pp 463–492

  • Baecher G, Christian J (2003) Reliability and statistics in geotechnical engineering. Wiley, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Banning NC, Grant CD, Jones DL, Murphy DV (2008) Recovery of soil organic matter, organic matter turnover and nitrogen cycling in a post-mining forest rehabilitation chronosequence. Soil Biol Biochem 40:2021–2031

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bardgett RD, Wardle DA (2010) Aboveground-belowground linkages: biotic interactions, ecosystem processes, and global change. Oxford series in ecology and evolution. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Bell LC (2001) Establishment of native ecosystems after mining: Australian experience across diverse biogeographic zones. Ecol Eng 17:179–186

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Benson C, Sawangsuriya A, Trzebiatowski B, Albright W (2007) Postconstruction changes in the hydraulic properties of water balance cover soils. ASCE JGGE 133(4):349–359

    Google Scholar 

  • BERR (2008) Strategy for sustainable construction, business, enterprise and regulatory reform (BERR), HM Government, p 60

  • Bishop DM, Stevens ME (1964) Landslides on logged areas in southeast Alaska. U.S. Forest Service Research Paper NOR-1, Juneau, Alaska, p 18

  • Bottner P, Pansu M, Sallih Z (1999) Modelling the effect of active roots on soil organic matter turnover. Plant Soil 216:15–25

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • CEEQUAL (2008) The civil engineering environmental quality assessment and awards scheme manual, Version 4, CEEQUAL Ltd., p 114

  • Commission of the European Communities (2006) Thematic strategy for soil protection communication from the commission to the council, the European parliament, The European economic and social committee and the committee of the regions, COM(2006)241 final, p 12

  • Connell JH, Slatyer RO (1977) Mechanisms of succession in natural communities and their role in community stability and organization. Am Nat 111(982):119–144

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cresser M, Killham K, Edwards T (1993) Soil chemistry and its applications. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Dale VH, Swanson FJ, Crisafulli CM (eds) (2005) Ecological responses to the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens, Springer

    Google Scholar 

  • DeJong JT, Fritzges MB, Nüsslein K (2006) Microbial induced cementation to control sand response to undrained shear. ASCE J Geotech Geoenviron Eng 132(11):1381–1392

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DeJong JT, Mortensen BM, Martinez BC, Nelson DC (2010) Bio-mediated soil improvement. Ecol Eng 36:197–210

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Emerson WW (1967) A classification of soil aggregates based on their coherence in water. Aust J Soil Res 5:47–57

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Feeney DS, Crawford JW, Daniell T, Hallett PD, Nunan N, Ritz K, Rivers M, Young IM (2008) Three-dimensional microorganization of the soil–root–microbe system. Microbiol Ecol 52:151–158

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fell R, MacGregor P, Stapledon D, Bell G (2005) Geotechnical engineering of dams. Taylor & Francis, p 912

  • Ferris H (2010) Contribution of nematodes to the structure and function of the soil food web. J Nematol 42:63–67

    Google Scholar 

  • Fourie AB (2007) The engineering contribution of vegetation to the stability of cover systems. In: Fourie AB, Tibbett M, Wiertz J (eds) Proceedings of 2nd International Seminar on Mine Closure, October 2007, Santiago, Chile, pp 483–493

  • Fourie AB, Mibbett M (2007) Post-mining landforms: engineering a biological system. Keynote Lecture. In: Fourie AB, Tibbett M, Wiertz J (eds) 2nd International Seminar on Mine Closure, October 2007, Santiago, Chile, pp 3–12

  • George SJ, Kelly RN, Greenwood PF, Tibbett M (2010) Soil carbon and litter development along a reconstructed biodiverse forest chronosequence of South-Western Australia. Biogeochemistry 101:197–209

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gray DH (1970) Effects of forest clear-cutting on the stability of natural slopes. Bull Assoc Eng Geol 7(1–2):45–66

    Google Scholar 

  • Gray DH, Sotir RB (1996) Biotechnical and soil bioengineering stabilization. Wiley, New York, p 378

    Google Scholar 

  • Harder LF, Kroll R, Claassen V, Buck PEF, Berry AM (2010) Investigation of tree root penetration into a levee soil-cement-bentonite slurry cutoff wall. In: Annual Convention of the Association of State Dam Safety Officials, Seattle

  • Harmon ME, Franklin JF, Swanson FJ, Sollins P, Gregory SV, Lattin SD, Anderson NH, Cline SP, Aumen NG, Sedell JG, Lienkaemper GW, Cromack K Jr, Cummins KW (1986) Ecology of coarse woody debris in temperate ecosystems. Adv Ecol Res 15:133–302

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hillel D (1998) Environmental soil physics. Academic Press, San Diego

  • Hobbs RJ, Higgs E, Harris JA (2009) Novel ecosystems: implications for conservation and restoration. Trends Ecol Evol 24:599–605

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hobbs RJ, Hallett LM, Ehrlich PR, Mooney HA (2011) Intervention ecology: applying ecological science in the twenty-first century. Bioscience 61:442450

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holling CS (ed) (1978) Adaptive environmental assessment and management. Wiley, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Holtz RD, Kovacs WD, Sheahan TC (2010) An Introduction to Geotechnical Engineering. Prentice Hall, NJ

  • Hütsch BW, Augustin J, Merbach W (2002) Plant rhizodeposition: an important source for carbon turnover in soils. J Plant Nutr Soil Sci 165:397–407

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ICE (2009) The state of the nation, low carbon infrastructure. Institution of civil engineers, p 15

  • IEA (2009) World energy outlook 2009. International energy agency

  • IPCC (2007) Fourth assessment report: climate change, intergovernmental panel on climate change

  • Jackson RB, Canadell J, Ehleringer JR, Mooney HA, Sala OE, Schulze ED (1996) A global analysis of root distributions for terrestrial biomes. Oecologia 108:389–411

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jenny H (1941) Factors of soil formation. A system of quantitative pedology. McGraw Hill Book Company, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Jenny H (1980) The soil resource: origin and behaviour. Springer, New York, p 377

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Jones DL, Hodge A, Kuzyakov Y (2004) Plant and mycorrhizal regulation of rhizodeposition. New Phytol 163:459–480

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kibblewhite MG, Ritz K, Swift MJ (2008) Soil health in agricultural systems. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 363:685–701

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Koch JM (2007) Alcoa’s mining restoration process in South Western Australia. Restor Ecol 15(Suppl):S11–S16

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Koch JM, Hobbs RJ (2007) Synthesis: is Alcoa successfully restoring a jarrah forest ecosystem after bauxite mining in Western Australia? Restor Ecol 15(Suppl):137–144

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Koerner RM (2005) Designing with geosynthetics. Prentice Hall, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Kylafis G, Loreau M (2008) Ecological and evolutionary consequences of niche construction for its agents. Ecol Lett 11:1072–1081

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lardner TD, Worthington TR, Braimbridge MF, Vlahos S, Tibbett M (2011) Optimising soil physical properties for rehabilitation of mined land: effects of tine type on soil strength and root proliferation. In: Fourie AB, Tibbett M, Beersing A (eds) Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference Mine Closure, Australian Centre for Geomechanics, Perth, pp 153–164

  • Lavelle P, Spain AV (2001) Soil ecology. Kluwer Academic, Dordrecht, p 654

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • LEED (2009) New construction and major renovations rating system. U.S. Green Building Council, p 88

  • Leong EC, Rahardjo H (1997) Permeability functions for unsaturated soils. J Geotech Geoenviron Eng 123(12):1118–1126

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Majer JD, Day JE, Kabay ED, Perriman WS (1984) Recolonization by ants in bauxite mines rehabilitated by a number of different methods. J Appl Ecol 21:355–375

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meysman FJR, Middelburg JJ, Heip CHR (2006) Bioturbation: a fresh look at Darwin’s last idea. Trends Ecol Evol 21(12):688–695

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell JK, Santamarina JC (2005) Biological considerations in geotechnical engineering. J Geotech Geoenviron Eng 131(10):1222–1233

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell JK, Soga K (2005) Fundamentals of soil behavior. Wiley, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Operstein V, Frydman S (2000) The influence of vegetation on soil strength. Ground Improv 4:81–89

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pankhurst C, Doube MB, Gupta VVSR (eds) (1997) Biological indicators of soil health. Wallingford, UK

    Google Scholar 

  • Petersen SL, Stringham TK (2008) Infiltration, runoff, and sediment yield in response to western juniper encroachment in southeast Oregon. Rangel Ecol Manag 61:74–81

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rasoulzadeh A, Yaghoubi A (2010) A effect of cattle manure on soil physical properties on a sandy clay loam soil in North-West Iran. J Food Agric Environ 8:976–979

    Google Scholar 

  • Rentel U, Rental M (2009) Determining the rehabilitation success of the old tailings storage facility of Navachab Gold Mine, Karibib, Namibia. In: Fourie AB, Tibbett M (eds) Proceedings of the fifth international conference mine closure, Perth, Australia, pp 109–121. Australian Centre for Geomechanics, Perth

  • Rice RM, Krammes JS (1970) Mass-wasting processes in watershed management. In: Proceedings on symposium interdisciplinary aspects of watershed management, Bozeman, Montana, August 1970. ASCE, New York, pp 231–260

  • Rowe RK (2005) Long-term performance of contaminant barrier systems, 45th Rankine Lecture. Geotechnique 55(9):631–678

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rygiewicz PT, Monleon VJ, Ingham ER, Martin KJ, Johnson MG (2010) Soil life in reconstructed ecosystems: initial soil food web responses after rebuilding a forest soil profile for a climate change experiment. Appl Soil Ecol 45:26–38

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schaaf W, Anton Fischer OB, Gerke HH, Gerwin W, Grünewald U, Holländer HM, Kögel-Knabner I, Mutz M, Schloter M, Schulin R, Veste M, Winter S, Hüttl RF (2011) Patterns and processes of initial terrestrial-ecosystem development. J Plant Nutr Soil Sci 174:229–239

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scottish Government (2009) The Scottish soil framework, p 64

  • Smith SE, Read DJ (2008) Mycorrhizal symbiosis, 2nd edn. Elsevier, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Snars K, Gilkes RJ (2009) Evaluation of bauxite residues (red muds) of different origins for environmental applications. Appl Clay Sci 46:13–20

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spain AV, Tibbett M (2011) Substrate conditions, root and arbuscular mycorrhizal colonisation of landforms rehabilitated after coal mining, sub-tropical Queensland. In: Fourie AB, Tibbett M, Beersing A (eds) Proceedings of the sixth international conference mine closure, Perth, Australia. Australian Centre for Geomechanics, Perth, pp 199–208

  • Spain AV, Tibbett M, Hinz DA, Ludwig JA, Tongway DJ (2014) The Mining-restoration system and ecosystem development following bauxite mining in a biodiverse environment in the seasonally dry tropics of Northern Australia. In: Tibbett M (ed) Mining in Ecologically Sensitive Landscapes, CRC Press (in press)

  • Spain AV, Hinz DA, Ludwig J, Tibbett M, Tongway D (2006) Mine closure and ecosystem development: Alcan Gove bauxite mine, NT, Australia. In: Fourie AB, Tibbett M (eds) Proceedings of the first international seminar on mine closure, pp 299–308. Australian Centre for Geomechanics, Perth

  • Spain AV, Ludwig J, Tibbett M, Tongway D (2009) Ecological and minesoil development studies at the Rio Tinto Alcan Gove Mine site, Northern Territory. Centre for Land Rehabilitation, Perth

  • Spain AV, Hinz D, Tibbett M (2010) Colonisation of rehabilitated lands by termites (Dictyoptera), RTA Gove bauxite mine, NT, Australia. In: Fourie AB, Tibbett M, Wiertz J (eds) Proceedings of the fifth International conference mine closure, Perth, Australia, pp 437–448. Australian Centre for Geomechanics, Perth

  • Taylor G, Spain A, Nefiodovas A, Timms G, Kuznetsov V, Bennett J (2003) Determination of the reasons for deterioration of the rum jungle waste rock cover, Australian centre for mining environmental research (Brisbane)

  • Terzaghi K, Peck RB, Mesri G (1996) Soil mechanics in engineering practice. Wiley, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Tibbett M (2010) Large-scale mine site restoration of australian eucalypt forests after bauxite mining: soil management and ecosystem development. In: Batty LC, Hallberg K (eds) Ecology of industrial pollution. Cambridge University Press, UK, pp 309–326

  • Tongway DJ, Hindley NL (1998) An ecological assessment of internally draining landforms at Oaky Creek Coal mine. CSIRO wildlife and ecology report, p 58

  • Tongway DJ, Ludwig JA (2011) Restoring disturbed landscapes. Island Press, Washington, DC

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • United States Army Corps of Engineers (2007) Treatment of vegetation within local flood-damage-reduction systems. Draft Final White Paper, p 34

  • United States Army Corps of Engineers (2009) Guidelines for landscape planting and vegetation management at levees, floodwalls, embankment dams, and appurtenant structures. ETL 1110-2-571, p 32

  • van Paassen LA, Ghose R, van der Linden TJM, van der Star WRL, van Loosdrecht MCM (2010) Quantifying biomediated ground improvement by ureolysis: large-scale biogrout experiment. ASCE J Geotech Geoenviron Eng 136(12):1721–1728

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Waldron LJ (1977) The shear resistance of root-permeated homogeneous and stratified soil. Soil Sci Soc Am J 41:843–849

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Waldron LJ, Dakessian S (1982) Effect of grass, legume, and tree roots on soil shearing resistance. Soil Sci Soc Am J 46:894–899

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ward SC (2000) Soil development on rehabilitated bauxite mines in south-west Australia. Aust J Soil Res 38:453–464

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Watson A, O’Loughlin CL (1990) Structural root morphology and biomass of three age-classes of Pinus radiata. N. Z. J For Sci 20(1):97–110

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilkinson MT, Richards PJ, Humphreys GS (2009) Breaking ground: pedological, geological, and ecological implications of soil bioturbation. Earth Sci Rev 97:257–272

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wu TH, McKinnell WP III, Swanston DN (1979) Strength of tree roots and landslides on Prince of Wales Island, Alaska. Can Geotech J 16:19–33

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

Funding provided by the United States National Science Foundation (#0727463), Geosyntec Inc., and the UC Discovery Grant Program in support of the research by Jason T. DeJong. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the writer(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Davis, USA

    Jason DeJong

  2. Department of Environmental Science and Technology, Cranfield University, Cranfield, MK43 0SZ, Bedfordshire, England

    Mark Tibbett

  3. School of Civil, Environmental and Mining Engineering, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, Australia

    Andy Fourie

Authors
  1. Jason DeJong
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Mark Tibbett
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Andy Fourie
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jason DeJong.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

DeJong, J., Tibbett, M. & Fourie, A. Geotechnical systems that evolve with ecological processes. Environ Earth Sci 73, 1067–1082 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-014-3460-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-014-3460-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation