Establishment of native ecosystems after mining - Australian experience across diverse biogeographic zones

The Australian minerals industry, which is dominated by coal, gold, bauxite , iron ore, base metals and mineral sand operations, is widely scattered ac ross a continent which has a wide range of climatic zones ranging from mois t temperate in the south through hot deserts in the centre to moist tropica l in the north. There is an emphasis at most mines on establishing native e cosystems after mining, and technologies have had to be developed to ensure successful establishment and stability of these ecosystems under often adv erse climatic conditions. This paper describes some of the innovative pract ices used to establish native ecosystenms in bauxite, mineral sand and coal operations across diverse biogeographic zones. Additionally, brief referen ce is made to an ecosystem function analysis, which has been developed to a ssess the success of establishment of these ecosystems. (C) 2001 Elsevier S cience B.V. All rights reserved.