No abstract

A descriptive study of the naturally invading and planted flora was conducted during 1984-1985 on a 14-and 21-year-old contour surface mine, the 14.2 ha Log Mountain Demonstration Area (LMDA), in Bell County, Kentucky. Six habitats are designated from areas created from coal mining; the 1963 bench, 1970 bench, bench highwalls, mine outslopes, mine seeps, and coal haul-telephone microwave tower road. Twenty-four of 25 woody and herbaceous species (11 indigenous, 13 non-indigenous) have persisted from plantings by personnel of the Northeastern Forest Experiment Station, USDA Forest Service. We recommend 11 native and exotic woody and herbaceous species for planting on coal surface-mined areas. An annotated list of vascular plants comprises 360 taxa (286 indigenous, 74 non-indigenous) in 224 genera from 82 families. Taxa consist of 1 LycopodiophY1a, 1 Equisetophyta, 8 PolypodiophY1a, 7 Pinophyta, and 343 MagnoliophY1a. The most species-rich families are the Asteraceae (64), Poaceae (39), Fabaceae (20), Cyperaceae (16), Rosaceae (13), and Lamiaceae (11). A total of 155 Bell County distribution records were documented. Three threatened Kentucky species (Gentiana decora, Liparis loeselii, Si!ene ovata) were present in refugial habitats created by surface mining. The high species richness has resulted from native and naturalized invading species from the environs, native and exotic planted species, and species from the remnant seed bank. Forest vegetation is a complex mosaic of natural and semi-natural plant communrries on the unplanted and planted areas of LMDA .

Abstract. The seed banks in forest topsoils were used to introduce native species to an unreclaimed, xeric borrow area in eastern Kentucky. The results of using eight treatments are reported:(1) 1 cm topsoil + mulch, (2) 1 cm topsoil tilled into the substrate+ mulch, (3) 2 cm topsoil+ mulch, (4) 1 cm topsoil without mulch, (5) 4 cm topsoil in strips covering 25% of the area+ mulch, (6) 1 cm topsoil+ a grass-legume reclamation mix+ mulch, (7) the reclamation mix+ mulch without topsoil, and (8) mulch without topsoil or reclamation mix. The seed bank produced 90 species from 34 families including seven tree species, seven shrubs, 16 graminoids, and 50 forbs. Forest topsoil use introduced 57 native or naturalized species during the first growing season and 82 species were present during the second growing season. Average ground cover of native species totaled only about 5% after ten weeks of the first growing season. Wheat and timothy seed contained in the hay mulch increased mean ground cover to over 70%. The reclamation mix produced 96% cover during the first year and it completely suppressed establishment of native species during the first two years. Different methods of topsoil use without the reclamation mix did not significantly affect the number of native species established in the first and second growing seasons, cover in the first growing season, the number of species increase in the second year, or the number of established trees and shrubs.

Abstract. Floristic studies were conducted on five surface mines which were mined and reclaimed before the Surface Mine Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA). At the time of the inventories, these sites ranged from 12 to 25 years of age and from 2 to 14 hectares. The number of species planted on each mine at the time of reclamation ranged from 3 to 110. The mean species richness of these five sites at time of inventory was 313. The number of species on each mine was 2 to 12 percent below the number of species to be expected on areas of these sizes within the Mixed and Western MesophyticRegion. Approximately 82 percent of the mine floras were native species which is comparable to the proportion of native species in the total flora of Kentucky. Species richness of the mines was significantly correlated with mine area. Number of invading species was significantly correlated with median pH of mine soils. Each of these five mined sites contained one or more species on the Kentucky list of threatened or endangered plants. These mines provide baseline data which can be used in evaluating the effects of post-SMCRA reclamation procedures.

An integrated pest management (IPM) pilot program for landscape plants was implemented during 1997 and 1998 on two commercial, two residential, and one institutional property managed by landscape professionals. When compared with preprogram, calendar-based cover spray program costs at these sites in 1996, the IPM program was cost-effective at one of the five sites in both 1997 and 1998, and cost effective at a second additional site in 1998 when the cooperator, initially skeptical of IPM, discontinued calendar-based cover sprays performed in 1996 and 1997. The mean cost per site was $703.40 (preprogram), $788.26, and $582.22 in 1996, 1997, and 1998, respectively. Volume of pesticide applied decreased a mean of 86.3% on the four sites not receiving cover sprays and increased 2.3% at site 2 (still using cover sprays) in 1997. In 1998, pesticide volume was reduced an average of 85.3% at all five sites compared with preprogram levels. The majority of insect pest problems were corrected using spot sprays of insecticidal soap or horticultural oil or by physical means such as pruning. One-third of the woody plant material on the commercial and institutional sites consisted of holly, juniper, and azalea. The most prevalent pests encountered were mites (Tetranychidae), aphids, lace bugs, scales, whiteflies, and Japanese beetle. Spiders were the most abundant group of predatory arthropod and ants, green lacewings, and lady beetles were also well represented in the managed landscapes.