A simple thermodynamic model for evaluating the ecological restoration effect on a manganese tailing wasteland

Zijian Wu, Xiaofu Wu, Zhihui Yang and Linnan Ouyang

Ecological Modelling, 2017, vol. 346, issue C, 20-29

Abstract: A simple model was established for calculating the Gibbs free energy G, enthalpy H and entropy S of a restored plant community on a manganese mine tailing wasteland. The experimental area was 4.4ha including plots I (contaminated site amended with organic manure), II (contaminated site amended with chemical fertilizer) and III (uncontaminated site in the vicinity). Wood species Paulownia fortunei and Koelreuteria bipinnata were transplanted as dominant tree species. Results obtained from the experimental period (2010–2015) showed that the applied phyto-remediation method had not only effectively enhanced the biomass growth and metal uptake but also greatly enriched the biodiversity of the plant community. The estimated G, H and S values were significantly higher in plot I than in plot II. The values of G, H, S and their increments (ΔG, ΔH and ΔS) all increased with time, showing that the restored plant community possessed high growth and development potentials. A shift in distribution of the internal energy components was observed from the ΔG, ΔH and ΔS curves, showing that the energy conserved by the plant community was more transformed to S than to G in later years. In accordance with the thermodynamic theories, the observed increase in S associated with increasing number of naturally germinated native plant species in the experimental plots indicated that the plant community possessed a natural trend towards increase in its biodiversity. Compared with those commonly used ecological indices, G, H and S were shown to be adequate indicators for, respectively, ecosystem development capacity, primary productivity, and species richness. Use of G, H and S offered more information regarding the internal energy state and distribution of the plant community.

Keywords: Manganese tailing; Ecological restoration; Gibbs free energy; Enthalpy; Entropy; Ecological indicator (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304380016304410
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecomod:v:346:y:2017:i:c:p:20-29

DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2016.12.008

Access Statistics for this article

Ecological Modelling is currently edited by Brian D. Fath

More articles in Ecological Modelling from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().