Evaluating the sustainability of mine rehabilitation programs in China

Social, economic, and environmental restorations are important concerns in mine rehabilitation programs. Nonetheless, limited attention has been given to the social and economic evaluation of mine rehabilitation programs in developing countries with fast‐growing economies and large populations. To evaluate the social, economic, and environmental sustainability of mine communities before and after mine rehabilitation programs, we placed the study in China, which has experienced large‐scale mine closures resulting from resource depletion. By adopting an integrative model, sustainability cube, we evaluated social, economic, environmental, and overall sustainability (the combination of social, economic, and environmental) of its mine rehabilitation program—the national mine parks (reengineering closed mines as tourist parks, which constitutes the mine rehabilitation program) at the community level before and after the park establishment. Our results indicate that the implementation of national mine parks has improved the overall sustainability of local communities; the sustainability scores of the economic and environmental sectors increased significantly, while the sustainability score for the social sector decreased (mainly due to increased emigration after mine shutdown). We provide suggestions to improve social sector performance in mine rehabilitation programs, aiming to further enhance overall sustainability after mine closure.     

基质改良对尾矿废弃地生物土壤结皮形成与生长的影响

铜尾矿是一种矿业废弃物,堆积于尾矿库内形成尾矿废弃地,铜尾矿废弃地表面具有沙质疏松、稳定性差、移动性强和易于干旱等特点,类似于沙漠表面。以海藻酸钠和牛粪浸提液为改良材料对铜尾矿进行改良,观察不同改良方式对尾矿表面藻类结皮的形成和生长的影响。结果表明：海藻酸钠和牛粪浸提液都能促进藻类结皮的形成;随着结皮生长时间的增加,结皮厚度和叶绿素含量增加,不同改良方式对结皮中有机质和总氮含量具有显著的影响。     

The adaptive significance of leaf-mining pattern as an anti-parasitoid strategy: A theoretical study

An adaptive significance of linear leaf mining patterns as the anti-parasitoid strategy is theoretically analysed. In the model, a leaf-miner is allowed to move in one of four ways; mining ahead in unexploited area of a leaf, backtracking, branching off from the backtracking mine, and crossing the previous mine. The model parasitoid searches for the leaf-miner by tracing the mine by the tactile cue of mine surface after detecting the mine. The average duration from detecting the mine to finding the leaf-miner host is calculated for various patterns of mining, changing numbers of branches and of crosses. This average duration becomes longer when the leaf-miner stays near either end of the mine compared with when staying near its center. It is also prolonged as the numbers of branches and of crosses increase.     

菌种类型及EDTA二钠用量对生物甲烷生成的影响

采用平板分离和培养瓶厌氧技术,结合PCR扩增技术,以沙曲矿煤为发酵基底,中泰矿业和沙曲矿井水及白腐菌为菌种来源,进行产甲烷菌培养实验,并添加不同浓度梯度的EDTA二钠,进行产甲烷菌培养实验,测定实验结束后的产甲烷量。实验证明:中泰矿业矿井水中有产甲烷菌的存在,而沙曲矿井水在含反硝化菌和pH偏高的情况下,抑制了产甲烷菌的生长。同等条件下沙曲矿批次实验中没有甲烷气体的产生,而中泰矿业的有气体产出,适宜浓度的EDTA二钠浓度会显著提高产气量,EDTA二钠用量为1.0 g/L时,中泰矿井水CH4产率达到最大,为10.0 mL/g煤,反应后溶液的pH值明显增高。     

硫铁矿酸性矿山废水对大型底栖动物群落结构的影响

2006年11月和2007年1月通过金属和生物指标的量化监测,就酸性矿山废水对大型底栖动物群落结构的影响及高岚河污染现状进行研究。典型对应分析表明：酸性废水对高岚河上游大型底栖动物群落结构影响最大。对高岚河大型底栖动物群落结构和功能摄食类群进行分析,研究硫铁矿酸性矿山废水对河流大型底栖动物群落的影响,结果表明：高岚河自矿源起约16km河段,大型底栖动物群落结构已经遭到严重破坏;多足摇蚊Polypedilum tritum和真凯氏摇蚊Eukiefferiellab rehmi对酸和金属均具有较强的耐受力;捕食者和刮食者对矿山酸性废水带来的污染反应最为敏感。逐步回归分析表明：大型底栖动物生物多样性受Al、Ca、Cd、Fe、Mg、Mn等金属影响最大;密度受Ca、Cr和Mg的影响最大。     

中国主要矿区油页岩可培养细菌的分离与鉴定

【目的】研究油页岩本源环境中可培养细菌多样性,对于发掘利用尚未开发的油页岩细菌资源具有重要意义。【方法】以野外采集的吉林桦甸、广东茂名和辽宁抚顺3个中国主要矿区的油页岩作为研究对象,采用稀释平板培养法,以营养琼脂培养基对油页岩中的细菌进行分离纯化,并对分离菌株进行基于16S rRNA基因的序列测定和系统发育分析。【结果】3个矿区共鉴定出10属,其中抚顺矿的9个操作分类单元(Operational taxonomic units,OTUs)属于Pantoea、Brevibacillus、Paenibacillus、Microbacterium、Arthrobacter、Pseudomonas和Bacillus菌属;茂名矿的5个OTUs属于Bacillus和Sinomona菌属,桦甸矿的5个OTUs属于Staphylococcus、Acinetobacter、Bacillus和Arthrobacter菌属。【结论】3个矿区可培养细菌群落组成均较简单,且在门的分类层次上相似,即均具有厚壁菌门和放线菌门,抚顺矿和桦甸矿还存在部分变形菌门细菌。在属的分类层次上,各矿区差异较大。     

贵州泥堡卡林型金矿区与非金矿区苔藓植物比较研究

首次报道了贵州普安县泥堡村韭菜烂滩的卡林型金矿区和非金矿区的苔藓。记录了泥堡韭菜烂滩卡林型金矿生苔藓3科8属15种,非金矿生苔藓9科15属20种。通过比较我们得到韭菜烂滩卡林型金矿区和泥堡非金矿区苔藓的相似性系数为11.4%。这表明这两个生境下的苔藓组成差异极大。在这个地区有13种苔藓植物(包括异芽丝瓜藓Pohlia leucostoma、卵蒴丝瓜藓P.proligera、长蒴藓Trematodon longicollis等)只生长在卡林型金矿上,这表明有一些苔藓植物适应卡林型金矿这种基质。也许,在泥堡地区某些苔藓植物的分布与卡林型金矿存在一定的关系。     

Complex feeding tracks of the sessile herbivorous insect Ophiomyia maura as a function of the defense against insect parasitoids

Because insect herbivores generally suffer from high mortality due to their natural enemies, reducing the risk of being located by natural enemies is of critical importance for them, forcing them to develop a variety of defensive measures. Larvae of leaf-mining insects lead a sedentary life inside a leaf and make conspicuous feeding tracks called mines, exposing themselves to the potential risk of parasitism. We investigated the defense strategy of the linear leafminer Ophiomyia maura Meigen (Diptera: Agromyzidae), by focusing on its mining patterns. We examined whether the leafminer could reduce the risk of being parasitized (1) by making cross structures in the inner area of a leaf to deter parasitoids from tracking the mines due to complex pathways, and (2) by mining along the edge of a leaf to hinder visually searching parasitoids from finding mined leaves due to effective background matching of the mined leaves among intact leaves. We quantified fractal dimension as mine complexity and area of mine in the inner area of the leaf as interior mine density for each sample mine, and analyzed whether these mine traits affected the susceptibility of O. maura to parasitism. Our results have shown that an increase in mine complexity with the development of occupying larvae decreases the probability of being parasitized, while interior mine density has no influence on parasitism. These results suggest that the larval development increases the host defense ability through increasing mine complexity. Thus the feeding pattern of these sessile insects has a defensive function by reducing the risk of parasitism.     

Evidence of a Copper-tolerant Ecotype of the Hepatic Solenostoma crenulatum

Two populations of the hepatic Solenostoma crenulatum, fromcopper mine and lead mine spoil tips, were compared for theirresistance to supplied copper. Incubation in copper solutionsshowed copper uptake to be very similar in the two populations.On the basis of greater potassium leakage, indicative of membranedamage, and inhibition of photosynthesis, in the lead mine populationsupplied with copper, it is suggested that the copper mine populationis a copper-tolerant ecotype. Potassium loss was a specificresponse to copper and was not caused by low pH, osmotic shockor generalized cation induced damage. Solenostoma crenulatum, hepaticae, copper tolerant ecotype     

Study of multi-agent-based coal mine environmental monitoring system

Existing wireless coal mine environmental monitoring system has large transmissions of redundancy data. Monitoring and treatment of multiple environmental parameters are mutually independent, with low instantaneity and reliability. To solve the above problems, this paper designs the coal mine environmental monitoring system based on multi-agent, taking advantages of the harmony and intelligence of the multi-agent technology. This system designs the environmental monitoring agent from both hardware and software aspects which can cooperate mutually and work harmoniously between each other. Thus, the quantity of transmission of data can be reduced, which optimizes the structure of the coal mine environmental monitoring system. Results of simulation experiments prove that the multi-agent-based coal mine environmental monitoring system can reduce the transmission delay and packet loss probability of data and enhance the instantaneity and reliability of data transmission in the system. Therefore, the new system is more applicable and advanced in the field of coal mine environmental monitoring.     

祁连山国家公园煤矿修复对地表节肢动物多样性的影响

高寒山区煤矿覆土回填和种植草本植物能够快速改善环境,强烈影响地表节肢动物多样性及其生态功能,地表节肢动物对煤矿修复的响应还会因海拔及放牧扰动强度的变化而异。选择祁连山国家公园甘肃片区中部西营河和东大河保护站煤矿修复区和毗邻草地(对照区)为研究对象,利用陷阱法调查煤矿修复区及对照区地表节肢动物的种类组成和数量变化,解析地表节肢动物群落及关键类群对煤矿修复的响应模式,确定影响地表节肢动物多样性变化的关键要素。结果表明,煤矿修复缩小了修复区和对照区地表节肢动物群落差异,但煤矿修复区和对照区地表节肢动物群落组成明显不同并存在地域差异。西营河煤矿修复显著提高了地表节肢动物活动密度,而东大河保护站煤矿修复导致地表节肢动物活动密度略有降低,地表节肢动物类群丰富度、多样性和均匀度指数变化与活动密度相反。主要地表节肢动物科对煤矿矿区修复的响应模式不同并存在区域差异,西营河保护站煤矿修复显著提高了平腹蛛科、微蛛亚科和隐翅虫科的活动密度,但显著降低了硬体盲蛛科和象甲科的活动密度;东大河保护站煤矿修复显著提高了步甲科活动密度,但降低了蚁科和狼蛛科的活动密度。pRDA排序结果表明,海拔高度和全氮含量解释了西营河...     

Characterization of the core microbiota of the drainage and surrounding soil of a Brazilian copper mine

The core microbiota of a neutral mine drainage and the surrounding high heavy metal content soil at a Brazilian copper mine were characterized by 16S rDNA pyrosequencing. The core microbiota of the drainage was dominated by the generalist genus Meiothermus. The soil samples contained a more heterogeneous bacterial community, with the presence of both generalist and specialist bacteria. Both environments supported mainly heterotrophic bacteria, including organisms resistant to heavy metals, although many of the bacterial groups identified remain poorly characterized. The results contribute to the understanding of bacterial communities in soils impacted by neutral mine drainage, for which information is scarce, and demonstrate that heavy metals can play an important role in shaping the microbial communities in mine environments.     

Increase of glutathione in mine population of Sedum alfredii: a Zn hyperaccumulator and Pb accumulator

Phytochelatins (PCs) have been induced in a large range of plant species, but their role in heavy metal tolerance is unclear. Sedum alfredii is a new zinc (Zn) hyperaccumulator and lead (Pb) accumulator found in an old Pb/Zn mine in the Zhejiang Province of China. Until now, the mechanisms of its hyperaccumulation/accumulation and tolerance were poorly understood. The aim of this work was to investigate whether PCs were differentially produced in mine populations of S. alfredii compared with a non-mine control of the same species. The results showed that plants from the mine site were more tolerant to increasing Zn and Pb concentrations than those from the control site. No PCs and cysteine (Cys) were detected by pre-column derivatization with HPLC fluorescence in any tissues of two populations at any treatment, which in turn indicated they were not responsible for Zn and Pb tolerance in the mine population. Instead, Zn and Pb treatments resulted in the increase of glutathione (GSH) for both populations in a tissue-dependent manner. Significant increases were observed in leaf, stem and root tissues of plants grown on the mine site. The results suggest that GSH, rather man PCs, may be involved in Zn and Pb transport, hyperaccumulation/accumulation and tolerance in mine population of S. alfredii.     

Evaluation of metal contamination and risk assessment to human health in a coal mine region of India: A case study of the North Karanpura coalfield

The present study aimed to evaluate metal contamination level in coal mine water of the North Karanpura coalfields and assess the possible health risk due to the intake of untreated mine water. Fourteen coal mine water samples were collected from the study area and analyzed for Al, As, Ba, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Se, and Zn using inductively coupled plasma-mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS). The heavy metal pollution index (HPI) was used to calculate metal pollution level in the coal mine water. The hazard quotient (HQ) and hazard index (HI) were estimated for health risk to child and adult by using the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) methods. The concentrations of Al, Fe, Mn, and Ni in coal mine water were exceeding the acceptable as well as the maximum permissible limits specified for drinking and domestic uses. The HPI values were below the critical pollution index level of 100 except at one location. The estimated HQ and HI values for adult and children were greater than the standard limits in nearly half of the water samples. High HQ and HI values suggest that suitable treatment of coal mine water will require before its utilization in domestic and drinking purposes.     

Identification of sulfate-reducing bacteria in methylmercury-contaminated mine tailings by analysis of SSU rRNA genes

Sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) are often used in bioremediation of acid mine drainage because microbial sulfate reduction increases pH and produces sulfide that binds with metals. Mercury methylation has also been linked with sulfate reduction. Previous geochemical analysis indicated the occurrence of sulfate reduction in mine tailings, but no molecular characterization of the mine tailings-associated microbial community has determined which SRB are present. This study characterizes the bacterial communities of two geochemically contrasting, high-methylmercury mine tailing environments, with emphasis on SRB, by analyzing small subunit (SSU) rRNA genes present in the tailings sediments and in enrichment cultures inoculated with tailings. Novel Deltaproteobacteria and Firmicutes -related sequences were detected in both the pH-neutral gold mine tailings and the acidic high-sulfide base-metal tailings. At the subphylum level, the SRB communities differed between sites, suggesting that the community structure was dependent on local geochemistry. Clones obtained from the gold tailings and enrichment cultures were more similar to previously cultured isolates whereas clones from acidic tailings were more closely related to uncultured lineages identified from other acidic sediments worldwide. This study provides new insights into the novelty and diversity of bacteria colonizing mine tailings, and identifies specific organisms that warrant further investigation with regard to their roles in mercury methylation and sulfur cycling in these environments.     

Spoil characteristics and vegetation development of an age series of mine spoils in a dry tropical environment

A series of coal mine spoils (5, 10, 12, 16 and 20-yr old) in a dry tropical environment was sampled to assess the changes with time in spoil characteristics, species composition and plant biomass. Coarse fragments (>2 mm) decreased with age of mine spoil while the proportion of 0.2–0.1 mm particles increased. Total soil N, mineral N, NaHCO₃-extractable Pi, and exchangeable K increased with age of mine spoil and these parameters were lower in mine spoils than native forest soil even after 20 years of succession. Exchangeable Na decreased with age of mine spoil and in 20-yr old spoil it was higher than native forest soil. Plant community composition changed with age. Only a few species participated in community formation. Species richness increased with age, while evenness and species diversity declined from 5-yr old to 16-yr old community with an increase in the 20-yr old community. A reverse trend occurred for concentration of dominance. Area-weighted shoot and root biomass of other species increased with the age of the mine spoil while that of Xanthium strumarium patches declined with age. Data collected on spoil features, microbial C, N and P, and shoot and root biomass when subjected to Discriminant Analysis indicated a continued profound effect of age. 10 and 12-yr old mine spoils were closer to each other, and 5 and 20-yr old spoils were farthest apart.     

Microbial Diversity in Uranium Mining-Impacted Soils as Revealed by High-Density 16S Microarray and Clone Library

Microbial diversity was characterized in mining-impacted soils collected from two abandoned uranium mine sites, the Edgemont and the North Cave Hills, South Dakota, using a high-density 16S microarray (PhyloChip) and clone libraries. Characterization of the elemental compositions of soils by X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy revealed higher metal contamination including uranium at the Edgemont than at the North Cave Hills mine site. Microarray data demonstrated extensive phylogenetic diversity in soils and confirmed nearly all clone-detected taxonomic levels. Additionally, the microarray exhibited greater diversity than clone libraries at each taxonomic level at both the mine sites. Interestingly, the PhyloChip detected the largest number of taxa in Proteobacteria phylum for both the mine sites. However, clone libraries detected Acidobacteria and Bacteroidetes as the most numerically abundant phyla in the Edgemont and North Cave Hills mine sites, respectively. Several 16S rDNA signatures found in both the microarrays and clone libraries displayed sequence similarities with yet-uncultured bacteria representing a hitherto unidentified diversity. Results from this study demonstrated that highly diverse microbial populations were present in these uranium mine sites. Diversity indices indicated that microbial communities at the North Cave Hills mine site were much more diverse than those at the Edgemont mine site.     

铝土矿开采对金佛山甑子岩植被生长发育的影响

对金佛山甑子岩植被生长发育的研究表明:1)铝土矿开采区内的植物群落正由矮林退化为灌丛,而远离矿区的群落正发生顺行演替;2)矿区内的物种多样性和均匀度均低于未开矿区;3)矿区开采后的羊踯躅的生长速率极显著地低于开采前的生长速率,而未开采区内的杉木年生长速率无显著差异;4)未开矿区的马尾松年平均生长速率极显著地(P<0.01)高于已开采区马尾松的生长速率:5)已开采区的马尾松平均敏感度高于未开采区、结果表明,铝土矿的开采、污染物的排放以及相关的人类活动已对甑子岩地区的植被造成了明显的负面影响.对此,应加强矿区的管理,控制各种污染,减少植被采伐,同时还要重视退化区的植被保护与恢复重建工作.     

Succession in Bird and Plant Communities over a 24‐Year Chronosequence of Mine Rehabilitation in the Australian Monsoon Tropics

We compared the bird and woody plant communities of 2 to 24‐year‐old rehabilitation areas at Gove bauxite mine (20 km²) in the seasonal tropics of northern Australia, where Alcan has maintained a consistent rehabilitation program since it began operation in 1974. Birds were censused every second month over 2 years in 30 widely separated 0.25‐ha plots, representing five chronosequence stages. These were also compared with six (“off‐mine”) plots adjacent to the mine, which represented the annually burnt open forest typical of the region. Short‐lived Acacias dominated the early chronosequence stages, whereas eucalypts dominated in later stages. Mean avian species richness and abundance increased significantly along the chronosequence, with values for the oldest rehabilitation plots being very similar to those for the off‐mine plots. However, analyses of similarity revealed that the bird communities of the oldest rehabilitation plots were distinct from those of the off‐mine plots, indicating that succession in rehabilitation areas is not following a direct trajectory toward the native open forest surrounding the mine. Several hollow‐nesting bird species were scarce or absent in the rehabilitation areas, probably reflecting the absence of older hollow‐bearing trees. Many differences between the rehabilitation and the off‐mine areas in vegetation structure, woody flora, and avifauna appear to be related to the exclusion of fire from the minesite. We recommend the initiation of experiments designed to assess the effects of fire on the biota but caution against the use of fires for the majority of rehabilitation areas.     

模拟池塘微生态系统研究尾矿砂中重金属吸附及其生物有效性

利用模拟池塘微生态系统开展长期暴露毒性实验,研究了铜矿尾矿砂中重金属在各个环境介质中的迁移及其生物有效性,实验结果较好地反映尾矿库湿地系统中重金属的生物毒性作用与生物可利用性,结果表明的重金属浓度会刺激生物生长与繁殖,而过高的重金属浓度则对生物的生长繁殖具有明显的毒性作用。微生态系统各组份间的重金属含量与尾矿砂中重金属含量具有良好的相关性,生物体内重金属累积与底泥尾矿砂中重金属浓度,种类和生物类属有关,试验研究为矿山生态修复过程的湿地利用提供重要的科学依据。