Physical and chemical properties of minesoil reclaimed for forest land use in southwestern Indiana were evaluated to determine suitability for reforestation according to specifications of Public Law 95–87, The Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977. Properties of reconstructed minesoil and unmined reference soils were compared. Soil types on the reference area were primarily Ava (Typic Fragiudalf) and Parke (Typic Hapludalf) silt loams and were similar to soils on the mineland prior to excavation. Both the reclaimed mineland site and reference site supported mixed upland hardwood trees and shrub vegetation prior to surface mining. Chemical properties of minesoil were similar to or more favorable for plant growth than unmined reference soils. However, physical properties in the rooting zone were less favorable in minesoil than reference soils. Minesoil had higher bulk density, lower porosity, lower permeability, higher coarse fragment and clay content, and lower available water‐holding capacity than reference soils at comparable depths. Mean bulk density of minesoil, adjusted for rock fragments > 2 mm, ranged from 1.53 Mg m−3 (g cm−3) in topsoil to 1.77 Mg m−3 in graded cast overburden. Mean available water‐holding capacity was 16.5% in topsoil and 10.8 to 11.7% (kg kg−1) in graded cast overburden layers of minesoil. Chemical properties of minesoil should be adequate for cover crop and tree seedling establishment after liming and fertilization to recommended soil test levels of NPK. However, physical properties could adversely affect plant survival and growth.

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The objective of this study was to determine survival and growth of black walnut (Juglans nigra L.) and northern red oak (Quercus alba L.) 12 yr after planting on a surface‐mined site in southern Indiana reclaimed according to specifications of Public Law 95‐87, the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977. A stocking level adequate to meet the requirements for forest land use (1112 trees/ha, or 450 trees/acre) was attained only for black walnut and only if competing ground cover vegetation was controlled in the tree rows. Height of both tree species was significantly greater when ground cover vegetation was controlled during the first 2 yr, but the growth rate, approximately 10 cm/yr, was very slow.

This investigation was conducted to determine physical and chemical properties of mineland overburden, to evaluate plant growth in these materials, and to identify properties of overburden materials before mining that may serve as predictors of potential plant growth.Eighteen overburden materials from five surface coal mines in the Illinois coal basin of southwestern Indiana were sampled and analyzed for 20 physical and chemical properties. Twelve were unconsolidated materials, including A and B horizons, lacustrine sediments, and glacial tills, and six were rock strata that break and weather easily. Growth potential for overburden materials, with and without sewage sludge and fertilizer amendments, was evaluated in greenhouse pot culture using alfalfa, wheat, and white pine. Oats yield, and survival and growth of Virginia pine and yellow‐poplar were evaluated for 10 materials in outdoor containers.Regression analysis of plant growth against chemical and physical properties of the overburden materials did not reveal properties that could be consistently used in a formula approach to predicting plant growth potential of the materials. Electrical conductivity of the material extract and water storage capacity were most frequently significantly related to growth. High plant tissue levels of B, Fe, Mn, and Al suggested toxicity problems on some materials. The general ranking of overburden materials evaluated for plant growth potential was lacustrine sedment ≥ A horizons > B horizons = glacial tills ≥ brown shale > sandstone > gray shale > black fissile shales; however, physical properties unfavorable to extraction and replacement of lacustrine material may limit its use under field conditions. Addition of sewage sludge resulted in vastly improved growth of wheat, and to a lesser extent, alfalfa, on most materials in the greenhouse. Fertilization with N‐P‐K was less effective than sludge but usually produced increased plant growth.

One-year-old and 3-month-old black walnut (Juglans nigra L.) and yellowpoplar (Liriodendron tulipifera L.) seedlings were treated with ring-labeled 14C-simazine [2-chloro-4,6-bis(ethylamino)-s-triazine] in nutrient culture. Simazine uptake was measured and the levels of simazine and its degradation products monitored at 3, 6, and 9 days following treatment for 1-year-old seedlings and at 3, 8, and 13 days for 3-month-old seedlings. Concentration of simazine and the phytotoxic degradation product monodealkylated simazine [2-chloro-4-amino-6-(ethylamino)-s-triazine] were significantly higher in yellowpoplar than in black walnut leaves. For 1-year-old seedlings, higher concentrations of phytotoxic compounds in yellowpoplar than in black walnut were attributed to greater simazine degradation by black walnut. For 3-month-old seedlings, higher concentrations in yellowpoplar were attributed to greater simazine uptake by yellowpoplar and greater degradation in black walnut. Simazine degradation proceeded rapidly in both species and N-dealkylation was a major pathway. Monodealkylated simazine and 2-chloro-4,6-diamino-s-triazine were isolated from various tissues of black walnut and yellowpoplar. Hydroxysimazine [2-hydroxy-4,6-bis(ethylamino)-s-triazine] was found in yellowpoplar roots but not in any black walnut extracts. Two other degradation products were isolated but not identified.