Members of Project 4 publish article titled, "“Dryland ecosystem regeneration and plant metal(loid) accumulation strategies 60 years after revegetating a mine tailings pond”.

Members of Project 4 published an article in November 2025 titled “Dryland ecosystem regeneration and plant metal(loid) accumulation strategies 60 years after revegetating a mine tailings pond”. This study examined one of the few successfully revegetated copper-molybdenum mine tailings sites in the semi-arid U.S. Southwest to identify the factors that influence plant establishment in degraded dryland environments. By combining field surveys, soil and plant analyses, and remote sensing, the researchers found that vegetation patterns were strongly linked to soil properties and that some plant species accumulated unusually high levels of copper, selenium, and rhenium. These findings provide valuable guidance for selecting plant species and improving future mine reclamation efforts in dryland ecosystems.

Wlodarczyk, Tomasz, et al. “Dryland Ecosystem Regeneration and Plant Metal (loid) Accumulation Strategies 60 Years After Revegetating a Mine Tailings Pond”. Science of the Total Environment, vol. 1004, no. 180705, Nov. 2025, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2025.180705.