Phytostabilization for Sustainable End-Use of Arsenic-Rich Mine Tailings in the Victorian Goldfields, Australia - Environmental Contamination: Health Risks and Ecological Restoration - page 440

The.species.which.produced.the.greatest.amount.of.herbage.was.the.pasture.
grass,. Phalaris aquatica ..Yield.in.three.of.the.four.biosolids.amendments.was.
>0.60.kg/m 2 .with.the.exception.of.the.high.biosolids.treatment.(0.32.kg/m 2 )..
Another.exotic.grass.species,. Holcus lanatus ,.contributed.approximately.3%.
of.the.total.dry.herbage.in.the.biosolid.amended.treatments.with.yield.rang-
ing.from.0.13.to.0.38.kg/m 2 ..Oxide.only.treatments.produced.0.06.kg/m 2 .and.
oxide.plus.topsoil.produced.the.least.yield,.0.04-1.10.kg/m 2 .
Two.dicotyledonous.species,. Rumex acetosella .and. Spergularia rubra ,.were.also.
major.volunteer.species.in.the.amended.tailings..These.are.not.valued.animal.
fodder. species.. R. acetosella . produced. the. least. biomass. of. the. four. species,.
with. the. greatest. biomass. harvested. from. the. oxide. treatment. (0.25.kg/m 2 )..
All.other.treatments.produced.less.than.0.05.kg/m 2 .. S. rubra .was.present.in.all.
the.treatments.with.yield.greatest.in.the.biosolids.amended.treatments.
Most. samples. of. leaf. tissue. dry. matter. from. exotic. species. contained.
<5.mg/kg. As,. the. detection. limit. of. our. analytical. protocol.. Only. samples.
of. S. rubra .had.As.concentrations.>10.mg/kg,.in.three.of.ive.samples..This.is.
a.highly.prostrate.species.with.stipulate.leaves.tapering.to.a.short.hair-like.
awn.. It. is. likely. that. surface. contamination. accounted. for. the. elevated. As.
concentration.
Establishment of Eucalypts
Survival. of. the. fast-growing. E. cladocalyx . at. the. beginning. of. summer.
(7.months.growth).was.signiicantly.greater.in.oxide.covers.amended.with.
either. topsoil. or. high. biosolids. (100%). compared. with. tailings. with. fertil-
izer.or.oxide.with.fertilizer.(33%)..Survival.rates.of.this.species.on.all.other.
treatments.were.not.signiicantly.different..The.trend.in.survival.was.oxide.
cover. with. topsoil. or. biosolids.>.oxide. only. cover.>.biosolids. ploughed. into.
tailings.>.unamended. tailings.. Mortality. increased. in. all. treatments. after.
12. months.. As. variation. within. treatments. was. signiicant,. no. parametric.
comparison.between.treatment.means.was.possible..However,.the.observed.
trends. showed. that. most. of. the. seedlings. planted. into. tailings. (73%-93%).
did. not. survive.. Seedlings. planted. in. oxide. wastes. or. biosolids. ploughed.
into. tailings. had. less. than. 50%. survival.. The. oxide. covers. with. either. top-
soil.or.biosolids.had.>50%.survival.after.the.irst.year.of.establishment..The.
majority.of.seedlings.which.had.survived.after.1.year.then.persisted.for.the.
duration.of.the.trials.
The.slow-growing. E. melliodora .showed.similar.trends.in.survival.to.the.
larger,.fast-growing. E. cladocalyx ..Of.the.two.mallee.species,. E. polybractea .
had. the. greatest. number. of. survivors.. At. the. beginning. of. the. irst. sum-
mer,. topsoil. and. oxide. treatments. produced. signiicantly. greater. survival.
(93%).than.all.other.treatments,.except.the.oxide.with.high.biosolids.cover.
(73%)..Other.treatments.had.<50%.survival.. Unlike.the.previous.two. spe-
cies,. further. mortalities. occurred. in. all. the. treatments. at. the. onset. of. the.
irst. autumn.. By. the. second. summer,. only. topsoil. treatments. had. greater.