Growth of soil algae and cyanobacteria on gold mine tailings material
Date
2017Author
Seiderer, Tanya
Venter, Arthurita
Van Wyk, Fanus
Levanets, Anatoliy
Jordaan, Anine
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
The goal of revegetation of gold mine tailings storage facilities is to reduce aeolian pollution, nutrient
leaching and erosion caused by exposure to wind and water. The establishment of biological soil
crusts may prove to be a more cost-effective way to reach the same goal and the aim of this study
was therefore to determine if it is possible to establish algae and cyanobacteria on gold mine tailings.
Different treatments of Chlamydomonas, Microcoleus and Nostoc were inoculated on gold mine
tailings in controlled conditions and algal growth was measured on all of the treatments after 6 weeks.
Nostoc treatments had the highest chlorophyll-a concentrations and produced a surface crust, while
Chlamydomonas treatments penetrated the tailings material and provided the strongest crust. The results
were promising but more research is necessary to determine the best organism, or combination of
organisms, to colonise mine tailings and to eventually produce biological crusts
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10394/26161http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/ sajs.2017/20160384
https://www.sajs.co.za/article/view/3859/5349