Abstract. Experiments on the effects of stockpiling soil on an opencast coal mine in Derbyshire showed that there were significant changes in the microbial community. Numbers of aerobic bacteria in stored soils ranged from 0.5 to 12.8 ± 107 colony‐forming‐units (CFU)g‐1 with the smallest values being in the deepest parts of the oldest stores, whereas an adjacent undisturbed soil contained 6.6 ± 107 CFU g‐1. There was a greater effect on the numbers of fungal spores, which ranged from 0.1 to 6.7 ± 105 CFU g‐1 soil, all less than the 10 ± 105 CFU g‐1 recorded for the undisturbed control soil. The number of fungal spores in the deepest part of the older soil stores was only 1/100 of the number in the undisturbed soil. This was mirrored by the biomass values, as determined by adenosine triphosphate (ATP) assay. Values of ATP ranged from 0.38 to 13.13 nmol g‐1 as compared to 5.8 nmol g‐1 in the undisturbed soil. All three of these microbiological properties decreased in value with both age and depth of storage. Neither anaerobic nor spore‐forming bacterial numbers were greatly affected by storage.
The pH values tended toward neutrality in the deeper parts of the soil stores, and there was less organic matter in the older stores.
Abstract. A number of restored areas, a soil store and undisturbed areas on opencast coal mine sites, all of similar soil type, were sampled. The microbiological activity (dehydrogenase assay), nitrogen mineralization and nitrifying potentials and physico‐chemical characteristics of the soils were determined. Dehydrogenase activities ranged from 140 to 580 μg TPF g‐1 24 h‐1 in undisturbed control soils, whereas the disturbed soils had activities of 10 to 220 μg g‐1 24 h‐1, with the smallest activities being recorded in the stored and most recently reinstated soil, indicating that disturbance has depressed microbial activity. Nitrogen mineralization potential was significantly affected by disturbance, with a value of 18 to 26 μg inorganic N g‐1 21 d‐1 in the soil store and 38 μg‐1 21 d‐1 in a soil reinstated for six months, although the values were less than this in soils reinstated for up to six years. Nitrifying potential was not significantly less in the stored soils, being within the range of 60 to 135 μg nitrate N formed g‐1 soil 21 d‐1, which was similar to that found in the undisturbed control soil.
The water‐holding capacity was less in the stored soil than the undisturbed controls, and was significantly less in soil reinstated for 1.5 to 2.5 years, being only 65% of the undisturbed value (0.66 g water g‐1 soil). Ammonium content of the soil store was one hundred fold larger in the soil store than in the controls (0.6 to 1.7 μg ammonium N g‐1). The carbon contents in the control soils ranged from 4.5 to 7.2%, whereas the stored and reinstated soils had generally less amounts ranging from 1.6 to 5.8%. There was a significant and positive correlation between water‐holding capacity and nitrifying potential.
The implications for long‐term restoration are discussed.
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The microbial community in a soil stripped and stored during opencast coal mining was analyzed. There were significant effects of soil disturbance on the microbial community: in particular, there were large decreases in the total microbial biomass, as determined by ATP analysis, and numbers of fungal propagules as a result of the store construction process, but there was no significant effect on the numbers of bacteria. During the subsequent months of storage there was a flush in the numbers of bacteria, with gram‐negative bacteria showing an increase of nearly 700% in comparison to the control. During this time there was a steady accumulation in the amount of ammonium in the deepest part of the soil store, indicating the onset of anaerobiosis. These changes may be interpreted in terms of lifestyle strategy theory (Grime 1979). The bacteria exhibit behavior typical of R‐strategists, or ruderal species, taking advantage of the nutrients made available by the death of fungal biomass during store construction. Fungi respond as C‐strategists, or competitors, and they are severely affected by store construction‐and unable to persist deep in the anaerobic part of the store. In contrast, anaerobes, S‐strategists or stresstolerators, are able to survive under the same conditions. These changes have serious implications for the restoration of systems using stored topsoil as a resource. The microbial population has been altered in terms of its size and composition. Many of the fungi required for adequate breakdown and incorporation of organic matter will be absent, and the soils will be generally poor in microbial biomass. This will lead to inadequate nutrient cycling and poor soil structural stability, two factors essential for the restoration of a self‐sustaining ecosystem.
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