Establishing Native Vegetation Principles and Interim Guidelines for Spoil Placement Areas and Restoration Lands

Disclaimer The University of Newcastle has used its best endeavours to make the information in this document as precise as possible. However, the research programs are ongoing and the precision or currency of any individual item in the document is likely to change with time. Persons using the document to guide restoration works should check the currency of the information with CSER. The information in this document is provided without any express or implied warranty. The University does not accept responsibility for any loss or damage occasioned by use of the information contained in the document. However, The University of Newcastle grants Xstrata Coal Pty Limited (Xstrata Coal) a royalty-free, non-exclusive irrevocable license to use any intellectual property created by the research programs that is funded by Xstrata Coal. The University also grants Xstrata Coal the right to faithfully incorporate parts of this document, with appropriate acknowledgement of The University, into other Xstrata documents or publications. Information provided in this document may not be used for commercial or for any other purpose (except as legally allowed for personal and educational use) unless the University gives its prior written consent to the intended use. i Preface The research summarized in 'Establishing Native Vegetation' relates to a journey that commenced in 1995 when David Mulligan of the Centre for Mined Land Rehabilitation, University of Queensland, wanted to re-establish his former association with the University of Newcastle and have it involved with an ACARP understorey project. As the physiological ecologist of the Plant Science Group I became the academic involved. Our activities were based at Mount Owen and Hunter Valley No. 1 mines. Early on in the association with Mount Owen Mine, Geoff Marschke of Thiess P/L, the new operator, and BHP the previous owner supported an application to the Australian Research Council led by John Patrick, and we achieved funding for the first PhD candidate. The early honours students including Kate Newman and the first PhD candidate Yvonne Nussbaumer helped set the path on which the Physiological Ecology Unit (that I led) of the Plant Science Group emerged, and provided the path to the formation of the Centre for Sustainable Ecosystem Restoration a number of years later. Our primary focus as physiologists was on plant nutrition and the elimination, as far as possible, of the use of fertilizer. A goal was to re-establish sustainable nutrient acquisition and cycling using natural root-microbe associations. …