Forest Soil Productivity of Mined Land in the Midwestern and Eastern Coalfield Regions

Abstract

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.

Use of Reclaimed Mine Soil Index (RMSI) for screening of tree species for reclamation of coal mine degraded land

“…In course of time as dumps get stabilized, with the increase in clay content, base saturation also increases. High BS levels (>50%) represent adequate base cation availability and a low amount of exchangeable acidity (Rodrigue and Burger, 2004).…”

“…The coarse fraction (>2 mm in size) is an important parameter which affects the soil productivity of the coal-mined land because excessive amount of coarse fragments limit the fine earth volume available for root proliferation, water-holding capacity, and long-term nutrient availability. Coarse fraction has been identified as one of the most influential mine soil property affecting site quality and forest productivity in the eastern coalfields of the USA (Rodrigue and Burger, 2004). It is found to affect the entire biological reclamation process by influencing moisture retention capacity, bulk density and porosity.…”

Red Oak Seedling Response to Different Topsoil Substitutes After Five Years

“…Soluble salt content dropped dramatically (Fig. 3), showed no rock mix effect in 2006 (both the line intercepts and slopes were different), and fell within the range for native forest soils (128-278 mg kg -1 ) reported by Rodrigue and Burger (2004). This undoubtedly reflects the long term leaching loss of the initial soluble salt component of the SiS which was deleterious to the pines in the first five years.…”

“…High levels of soluble salts inhibit water and carbon dioxide uptake, and also inactivate enzymes affecting protein synthesis, carbon metabolism, and photophosphorylation (Taiz and Zeigler, 1991). Rodrigue and Burger (2004) found a significant relationship between white oak site index and soluble salt content for a collection of 14 20-to 60-year-old stands on mined land. Soluble salt levels ranged from 100 to 1000 mg kg -1 compared to a range of 128 to 278 mg kg -1 for eight non-mined, mature, native hardwood forests.…”

“…Restoring adequate mine soil quality for trees using suitable topsoil substitutes has been an on-going issue (Bussler et al, 1984;Rodrigue and Burger, 2004). In 1983 we planted pines in different mixtures of sandstone and siltstone overburdens on a study site in Wise County, Virginia.…”