Composition and structure of soil fauna community in the Dexing Copper Mine tailings pool after revegetation

Abstract

The Dexing Copper Mine is one of the largest copper mines in Asia, but few studies have reported the soil fauna community composition after revegetation. This study investigated the influence of revegetation on the soil fauna communities and structures in three vegetation restoration models (designated as I, II, and III) and in a sample without revegetation (IV) in two tailings pools of Dexing Copper Mines 1 and 2 using modified Tullgren and Baermann methods. A total of 548 individuals were collected, which belonged to 5 classes, 7 orders, 3 suborders, and 19 families. The individuals, groups, and diversity of the soil fauna were significantly affected by the vegetation restoration model. In comparison to the sample without revegetation, the samples with revegetation showed a significant increase in the number of individuals and groups of soil fauna (P < 0.01) and significantly increased functional groups of the soil fauna community (P < 0.05). The number of individuals and groups of soil fauna were the highest in sample III, which was planted with trees and covered with guest soil, and the functional groups of the soil fauna community were the highest in samples II and III, which were both covered with guest soil. In principal component analysis, a significant difference was detected in the communities of soil fauna after revegetation, and the structures of soil fauna communities were similar in samples I and IV, which were not covered with guest soil. The number of individuals and groups of soil fauna was closely related to the revegetation in the Dexing Copper Mine tailings pool. These results should help in improved handling of the environmental issues associated with mines.