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r~ <br />LJ <br />14 • <br />but ultimately causing loss of those nutrients to surface waters, wind, or <br />non-biologically available storage sites. Soils are not inert cation ex- <br />change media. Soil analyses made from the standpoint of agricultural suit- <br />~__~-- <br />ability are totally inappropriate for reclamation purposes; just as they <br />are inappropriate for agricultural use since they do not consider the effects <br />of cation mobilization and perturbation of ongoing geochemical segregation <br />processes. <br />How Reclamation Plans Must Accomodate Geologic Soils Information <br />To insure adequate evaluation of potential for reclamation at a given site, <br />one needs to ]mow as much as possible about the status of soil and plant <br />relationships at a site before developing a mining plan. It is not suffi- <br />cient to inventory plant cover and species or even to conduct detailed <br />phytosociological studies that ignore causes and limitations of interrela- <br />tionships. It is additionally necessary to assess the developmental status <br />of the soil and its associated organisms and to determine potentials for <br />reversal or imbalance of those developmental tendencies through manipulation <br />of vegetation, soil, nutrient, and water balances. This can then lead to <br />choices regarding soil handling, replanting, fertilization, microclimate con- <br />trol, microorganism innoculation, and irrigation. It is additionally desirable <br />to assess the ecological adaptations of existing vegetation and potential <br />native vegetation to probable stresses of grazing, fire, drought, intense <br />rainfall, intense cold, and short growing seasons. Facli of these stress states <br />