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The Appalachian region in the eastern United Sates is home to the Earth's most extensive temperate deciduous forests, but coal mining has caused forest loss and fragmentation. More than 6000 km in Appalachia have been mined for coal since 1980 under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA). We assessed Appalachian areas mined under SMCRA for forest restoration potentials. Our objectives were to characterize soils and vegetation, to compare soil properties with those of pre-SMCRA mined lands that were reforested successfully, and to determine the effects of site age on measured properties. Soils were sampled and dominant vegetation characterized at up to 10 points on each of 25 post-SMCRA mines. Herbaceous species were dominant on 56%, native trees on 24%, and invasive exotics on 16% of assessed areas. Mean values for soil pH (5.8), electrical conductivity (0.07 dS m(-1)), base saturation (89%), and coarse fragment content (50% by mass) were not significantly different from measured levels on the pre-SMCRA forested sites, but silt+clay soil fraction (61%) was higher, bicarbonate-extractable P (4 mg kg(-1)) was lower, and bulk density (1.20 g cm(-1)) was more variable and often unfavorable. Pedogenic N and bicarbonate-extractable P in surface soils increased with site age and with the presence of weathered rocks among coarse fragments. Our results indicate a potential for many of these soils to support productive forest vegetation if replanted and if cultural practices, including temporary control of existing vegetation, soil density mitigation, and fertilization, are applied to mitigate limitations and aid forest tree reestablishment and growth.

Our goal was to determine the effects of surface mining on forest land productivity in the eastern coalfields of the USA before the passage of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA), and to determine the extent to which selected mine soil properties influenced forest productivity. The site productivity of 14 mined and eight nonmined sites in the eastern and midwestern coalfields were compared. Results show that site productivity of nonmined sites and 12 of the 14 mined sites was similar. Sites with low productivity were shallow, had high coarse fragment contents, and had lower fertility. Regression analysis identified five influential soil properties affecting site quality, which included soil profile base saturation (BS), total coarse fragments, total available water, C horizon total porosity, and soil profile electrical conductivity (EC). These five properties explained 52% of the variation in tree growth. Forests on most prelaw mined sites were just as productive as the forests on unmined adjacent sites and can be used as a benchmark to assess the impacts of current reclamation on mine soil quality and forest productivity.

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