Biorestorer: A Framework for Synthetic Succession with a Qualitative System Level Illustration

Jan Chvojka

Ecosystem restoration in severely degraded or soil-absent environments requires approaches that operate independently of natural soils and make effective use of locally available resources. The Biorestorer platform introduces synthetic succession as a systems-based eco-engineering framework structured in sequential functional phases and aligned with in situ resource utilization (ISRU) principles, understood here as the use of locally available resources independent of terrestrial or extraterrestrial setting. Its core element, the soil initiator, is a prototype soilless, mineral-dominated substrate engineered to support early soil-like functionality under low-organic conditions by integrating mineral components, porous carbon scaffolds, and targeted microbial inoculants. In the initial phase, locally available mineral materials are configured to achieve targeted physical and geochemical properties, including porosity, pH buffering, and potential nutrient accessibility. These are combined with microorganisms associated with mineral nutrient mobilization, such as rock-solubilizing bacteria (RSB), to support biological colonization. Subsequent phases introduce vegetation and plant-associated microbial communities, enabling organic matter accumulation and increasing system complexity. A qualitative engineering test of a defined prototype configuration was conducted to assess system-level behavior rather than to isolate causal mechanisms. The prototype supported plant establishment and continued growth in a mineral-dominated substrate without compost, humus, or conventional fertilizers. Observations included stabilization of substrate pH, visible structural changes, and growth of two successive plant generations (Sinapis alba and Phaseolus vulgaris). The inclusion of a cultivated species in the second generation is consistent with multi-stage plant establishment under the tested prototype conditions. As no control treatments or quantitative chemical or microbiological analyses were included, these findings should be interpreted as qualitative indicators of system-level feasibility, not as evidence of specific underlying mechanisms or validated process-level performance. Further controlled studies are required to resolve component contributions, process dynamics, reproducibility, scalability, and operational performance.