ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Environ. Sci.
Sec. Ecosystem Restoration
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fenvs.2025.1571505
Restoring Arid Ecosystems: The Synergistic Benefits of Fly Ash and Bentonite Soil Amendments
Provisionally accepted
- Xinjiang University, Urumqi, China
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Fly ash and bentonite are widely available industrial by-products in China with considerable potential for ecological restoration in arid zones. This study evaluates their combined effects as soil amendments on early-stage growth of two desert-adapted shrubs, Lycium ruthenicum and Ephedra intermedia, through a controlled factorial pot experiment involving 24 treatment combinations.Results revealed pronounced species-specific responses. In Lycium ruthenicum, germination and survival were significantly improved under moderate fly ash addition (e.g., P0F4: 76%), but declined sharply at higher concentrations, with bentonite alone showing no significant benefit. Plant height, root traits, and dry mass peaked under moderate fly ash without bentonite, while excessive amendments suppressed growth. In contrast, Ephedra intermedia exhibited greater tolerance to amendment gradients, with germination, survival, and biomass responding positively to both fly ash and bentonite, particularly under synergistic combinations (e.g., P3F5). Root development in Ephedra intermedia was most enhanced under high fly ash buffered by bentonite, while bentonite-only treatments suppressed root traits in both species. These findings suggest that moderate fly ash (40-60%) and bentonite (30-50 g•kg⁻¹) provide optimal conditions for plant establishment, but highlight the need for species-specific amendment strategies to avoid performance declines under excessive input levels. This work underscores the ecological value of valorizing industrial by-products for sustainable vegetation restoration in degraded arid landscapes.
Keywords: Fly ash and Bentonite mixture1, Ecological restoration2, Soil amendments3, plant growth4, soil properties5
Received: 06 Feb 2025; Accepted: 20 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Wang, Wang, Jin, Xu and Yang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Zhonglin Xu, Xinjiang University, Urumqi, China
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