Effect of soil depth and topographic position on plant productivity and community development on 28-year-old reclaimed mine lands

Wick, Abbey F.; Merrill, S. D.; Toy, Terrence J.; Liebig, Mark A.

doi:10.2489/jswc.66.3.201

Cited by 8 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 33 publications

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“…On the other hand, exceeding the optimum topsoil depth may be expensive as it may not translate to an increase in soil productivity (ESRD, 2013; Yang et al, 2019). Published research indicates that determination of topsoil replacement depth (TRD) in the short term should be based on plant establishment and growth requirements for successful restoration (Dhar et al, 2018), but in the long term, emphasis should be on sustainable and stable plant communities to minimize invasion of native boreal forests by non‐native species and to reduce topsoil erosion (Wick et al, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Revegetation of disturbed land reclaimed with suboptimal topsoil replacement depth and organic amendments

Nawu,

Zvomuya,

Adesanya

et al. 2024

Land Degrad Dev

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Successful reclamation and revegetation of disturbed sites depends on the availability of sufficient topsoil. Current regulations in western Canada require the replacement of ≥80% of the original topsoil depth (TRD) to restore pre‐disturbance productivity. However, salvaged topsoil at many legacy and other disturbed sites is often insufficient to achieve the 80% TRD (TRD80). This 5‐year study examined vegetation responses to 50% TRD without organic amendment (TRD50) or amended with either peat (PTRD50) or biochar (BTRD50), relative to the TRD80 treatment, following borrow site reclamation in northeastern Alberta, Canada. Amendments were applied once at rates calculated to bring organic carbon in the topsoil to concentrations approximating those in the TRD80 treatment. Tree and shrub seedling mixes were transplanted following amendment application and vegetation attributes were measured annually thereafter. Results showed that PTRD50 performed as well as TRD80 and outperformed BTRD50 with respect to native species' canopy cover and tree seedling height. Canopy covers of forb and non‐native species decreased significantly whereas those of graminoid and native species increased over time for all treatments. Across treatments, native plant species richness increased by 5% per year while non‐native species richness decreased by 19% per year. Overall, peat showed a satisfactory rate of recovery and a trajectory toward the natural boreal forest, indicating its potential to improve reclamation success at disturbed boreal sites where salvaged soil is insufficient to attain equivalent land capability. This finding will provide an additional tool for regulators seeking to refine land reclamation guidelines for such sites in boreal forest regions.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Revegetation of disturbed land reclaimed with suboptimal topsoil replacement depth and organic amendments

Nawu,

Zvomuya,

Adesanya

et al. 2024

Land Degrad Dev

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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Forages for Conservation and Improved Soil Quality

Obrycki

Karlen

2020

Forages

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Fine and Coarse-Scale Patterns of Vegetation Diversity on Reclaimed Surface Mine-land Over a 40-Year Chronosequence

Bohrer

Limb

Daigh

et al. 2016

Environmental Management

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Rangelands are described as heterogeneous, due to patterning in species assemblages and productivity that arise from species dispersal and interactions with environmental gradients and disturbances across multiple scales. The objectives of rangeland reclamation are typically vegetation establishment, plant community productivity, and soil stability. However, while fine-scale diversity is often promoted through species-rich seed mixes, landscape heterogeneity and coarse-scale diversity are largely overlooked. Our objectives were to evaluate fine and coarse-scale vegetation patterns across a 40-year reclamation chronosequence on reclaimed surface coalmine lands. We hypothesized that both α-diversity and β-diversity would increase and community patch size and species dissimilarity to reference sites would decrease on independent sites over 40 years. Plant communities were surveyed on 19 post-coalmine reclaimed sites and four intact native reference sites in central North Dakota mixed-grass prairie. Our results showed no differences in α or β-diversity and plant community patch size over the 40-year chronosequence. However, both α-diversity and β-diversity on reclaimed sites was similar to reference sites. Native species establishment was limited due to the presence of non-native species such as Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis) on both the reclaimed and reference sites. Species composition was different between reclaimed and reference sites and community dissimilarity increased on reclaimed sites over the 40-year chronosequence. Plant communities resulting from reclamation followed non-equilibrium succession, even with consistent seeds mixes established across all reclaimed years. This suggests post-reclamation management strategies influence species composition outcomes and land management strategies applied uniformly may not increase landscape-level diversity.

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Effect of soil depth and topographic position on plant productivity and community development on 28-year-old reclaimed mine lands

Cited by 8 publications

References 33 publications

Revegetation of disturbed land reclaimed with suboptimal topsoil replacement depth and organic amendments

Revegetation of disturbed land reclaimed with suboptimal topsoil replacement depth and organic amendments

Forages for Conservation and Improved Soil Quality

Fine and Coarse-Scale Patterns of Vegetation Diversity on Reclaimed Surface Mine-land Over a 40-Year Chronosequence

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