Quarry restoration in Mediterranean environments usually needs organic amendments to improve the substrates used for technosol construction. Digested sewage sludges from municipal wastewater treatment plants are rich in organic matter, N, and P and constitute an available and economically interesting alternative for substrate amendment. However, their pollutant burden and labile organic matter content involve an environmental risk that must be controlled. Moreover, ecological succession in restored areas can be influenced by the use of sludge and should be assessed. To minimize these risks, a new sewage sludge dose criterion relating to its labile organic matter and heavy metal content has been established. Sewage sludge doses currently range between 10 and 50 Mg ha⁻¹. In order to verify the suitability of this dose criterion, 16 areas rehabilitated using sewage sludge located in limestone quarries in a Mediterranean climate in Catalonia (NE Spain) have been assessed. These evaluations focused on physicochemical properties of rehabilitated soils, land degradation processes, and ecological succession. In the short term, 6 months after sludge application, an increment of organic matter content in the restored soils was observed, without significant increases in electrical conductivity or heavy metals content, and with a dense plant cover that contributes to effective soil erosion control. Two years after, ruderal plants were still present but later successional species colonized the restored zones in different degrees. These results suggest that sewage sludge, used as a soil amendment according to the proposed methodology, can safely improve technosol quality without constraints that compromise ecological succession.

中文翻译：

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污水污泥作为采石场修复的有机改良剂：对土壤和植被的影响

地中海环境中的采石场修复通常需要有机改良剂来改善用于技术溶胶施工的基材。来自市政污水处理厂的消化污泥富含有机物、N 和 P，构成了一种可用且经济上有趣的底物改良替代品。然而，它们的污染物负荷和不稳定有机物含量涉及必须控制的环境风险。此外，恢复地区的生态演替会受到污泥使用的影响，应进行评估。为了将这些风险降至最低，已经建立了与不稳定有机物和重金属含量相关的新污水污泥剂量标准。目前的污水污泥剂量范围为 10 至 50 毫克公顷⁻¹。为了验证该剂量标准的适用性，已经评估了使用位于加泰罗尼亚（西班牙东北部）地中海气候的石灰石采石场中的污水污泥修复的 16 个区域。这些评估侧重于恢复土壤的物理化学特性、土地退化过程和生态演替。在短期内，污泥施用 6 个月后，观察到恢复土壤中有机质含量增加，电导率或重金属含量没有显着增加，植物覆盖茂密，有助于有效控制水土流失。两年后，原始植物仍然存在，但后来的演替物种在不同程度上殖民了恢复区。这些结果表明，根据提议的方法，用作土壤改良剂的污水污泥，