Courtney Bullen

Restoration and Post Plantation Management of Acacia on a Mined out site Courtney Bullen

Soil physical and chemical analyses were carried out on samples obtained from a mined-out site at St. Elizabeth, Mahdia, in Guyana's rainforest region. In order to determine changes in soil properties resulting from open-pit mining, samples were taken from undisturbed sites on the two main soil types occurring in the area and from disturbed but undeveloped land. A fourth sampling site was located within an Acacia mangium plantation, established in 2008, as a pilot project in the rehabilitation of mined-out soils in Guyana's gold and diamond-bearing districts. Fertility levels declined significantly as a result of changes induced by mining activity. More importantly, there was evidence of Al toxicity in all the samples analyzed. Al toxicity adversely affected attempts at establishment of cowpea and peppers but did not affect the establishment and growth of A. mangium, indicating that this exotic plant species exhibited tolerance for Al toxic soils.