Primary successional post-mining landscapes present physical, chemical and biological
barriers to terrestrial ecosystem recovery. I investigated if legacies of the pre-disturbance …

Plants alter soil biological communities, generating ecosystem legacies that affect the
performance of successive plants, influencing plant community assembly and successional …

Restoration is a global priority that aims to reinstate ecosystem function. One key metric of
ecosystem function is species interactions. However, the species interactions that promote …

Beneficial soil microbes, such as mycorrhizal fungi and nitrogen-fixing bacteria, can improve
plant nutrient acquisition and increase plant resilience to stressors. Yet, the waste materials …

Soil disruption from open‐cut mining practices can adversely impact microbial communities
and the ecosystem services that they mediate. Despite this, assessment of impacts of soil …

In this dissertation, I asked how soil biota, abiotic stress, and plant provenance influence
plant communities and interactions between plants. Soil biota can have positive or negative …

Habitat destruction and land use change are among the anthropogenic influences affecting
many ecosystems. Sandpit mining often restricts grassland plant restoration efforts due to …

The severely degraded soils at abandoned mine lands present several environmental
challenges, including extreme pH, nutrient deficiency, and compaction, which can limit plant …

Grasslands are among the most threatened terrestrial biomes, and habitat conservation
alone will be insufficient to meet biodiversity goals. While restoration of indigenous …

Reclamation following mining activities often aims to restore stable soils that support
productive and diverse native plant communities. The soil re‐spread process increases soil …