Depth-dependent effects of vegetation restoration on soil quality in ion-adsorbed rare earth leach residues: Insights from soil functions

作者：Heng Zhang, Xianzhen Luo, Rui Zhang, Zhou Li, Rufeng Guo, Yuanwen Kuang, Dazhi Wen, Qiu Biao, Lingling Zhang · 发表于：CATENA · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1016/j.catena.2025.109683 · 被引用次数：2 · 研究领域：Geochemistry and Elemental Analysis、Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics、Coal and Its By-products

• Function-based assessment of soil quality after rare earth residue restoration. • Fern and graminoid vegetation restoration most effectively improves soil quality in leach residues. • Soil functions demonstrated a greater improvement in the topsoil than in the subsoil. • The dominant controls on soil quality shift depth from nutrient cycling in topsoil to nutrient provisioning in subsoil. • Carbon sequestration remains a consistent driver across soil depths. Ion-adsorption rare earth mining causes substantial soil degradation and ecosystem disruption. Vegetation restoration is a key strategy for ecological rehabilitation. However, it remains unclear how the restoration of rare earth heap leach residues under different vegetation types affects the soil quality index (SQI)—an integrative measure of multiple soil functions, and whether these effects are consistent across soil depths. Therefore, we surveyed soil profiles (0–60 cm) under three vegetation types—a fern ( Dicranopteris pedata ), a graminoid ( Miscanthus × giganteus ), and a conifer (P inus elliottii )—as well as in natural primary forest and bare land, which served as controls in ion-adsorption rare earth leach residues. The results are highlighted as follows: (1) after vegetation restoration, soil properties across the 0–60 cm profile changed substantially: physical properties by − 3.9 %–93.3 %, chemical properties by − 50.8 %–429.7 % and biological properties by − 77.0 %–2166.7 %；(2) using a function-based framew...