Restoration Effects of Supplementary Planting Measures on the Abandoned Mining Areas in the Altay Mountain, Northwest China
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Sustainability 2628409
Thank you for submitting the manuscript entitled: “Restoration Effects of Supplementary Planting Measures on the Abandoned Mining Areas in the Altay Mountain, Northwest China” to the journal Sustainability. Paper presents practices for the restoration of abandoned mining areas. Results shows that planting methods can improve the growth status of surface vegetation.
I think that the paper presents interesting data, but improvement is necessary. I would especially recommend this regarding the discussion.
Specific comment follow:
Page 1
Line 5 has instead of have
Change the term predatory
Page 2
Instead of poor soil layer use poor quality soil layer
Page 4
Dug out instead of dig out
You state: “All of the soil and stones in the sample area were dig out, soil sample were crushed by using a wooden stick, plant roots and other debris were removed.” Why did you use this method? Please provide a reference? There are other certified methods for soil analyses preparation.
Why did you use 1mm sieve? Usually, a 2mm sieve is used
How did you ensure that 1mm soil aggregates were not present?
Page 7
Please rephrase the first sentence – Soil is a part of the soil matrix…
How do you explain the change in the soil:rock ratio with planting? IT is not clear hos did this happen?
Page 8
What type of land degradation you mean? How is this determined? It is not clear.
The sentence: To make an effective restoration planning that can maximize the overall success of restoration efforts and minimize the costs, it is necessary to comprehensive understand the environmental problems and the complexity of ecological processes in mining areas.
Belongs more to conclusions. But also it is a big vague.
You say: During the field research, we found that when using simply terrain leveling measures without planting in abandoned mining areas, no any vegetation were growth up after two or more years.”
But you do not provide evidence.
I would suggest editing of English language.
Author Response
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Author Response File: 
Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 2 Report
This manuscript is well-written and organized in an easily understandable manner, but there are a few minor revisions needed as follows
1. Arrange the keywords alphabetically.
2. Please clarify the difference between sowing commercial seed and sowing soil with a seed bank in the introduction. What do you expect to achieve from using sowing commercial seed and sowing soil with seed bank?
3. Please specify the statistical differences in Figure 3.
4. Please specify the method for calculating the index value along with the reference (Figgure 3)
5. Why does the author focus solely on the soil-rock ratio, soil bulk density and soil moisture content? Why didn't the author analyze the other physical and chemical properties of the soil to determine its fertility after the experiment?
Author Response
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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Reviewer 3 Report
The increasing number of abandoned mines presents a growing need for treatment. Achieving natural vegetation restoration in arid mining areas through appropriate measures has become a challenging and prominent issue in ecological restoration. The authors of the study have undertaken research to explore the effectiveness of practices for restoring mining areas.
This study in northwest China's Altay Mountain region since 2010 offers valuable insights into innovative mining area restoration practices. They experimented with two restoration measures, sowing commercial seeds (M1) and sowing soil seed banks (M2), over short-term (2 years) and long-term (9 years) periods. Both M1 and M2 substantially enhanced surface vegetation growth, with M1 demonstrating faster short-term results and M2 demonstrating greater long-term efficacy. M2 had a significant effect on the soil conditions in the 30-40 cm stratum, increasing the ratio of soil to rock to 7.2%. Both methods increased soil water storage, with M1 predominantly reducing the bulk density of the soil's surface and M2 affecting the soil's deeper layers (40 to 50 cm).
Minor corrections:
1. Overall, the writing is satisfactory. Nonetheless, a few sentences/words require correction. A grammatical check will correct these errors.
2. The quality of Figure 1 must be improved. Additionally, the figure's caption should be made more informative.
3. Please check caption of Figure 2.
Overall, the writing is satisfactory. Nonetheless, a few sentences/words require correction. A grammatical check will correct these errors.
Author Response
Please see the attachment
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
Round 2
Reviewer 1 Report
Dear authors,
Thank you for accepting all comments and suggestions made by all reviewers.
Best wishes in your future work.
Author Response
please see the attachment
Author Response File: Author Response.pdf
