Development of Mine Soils in a Chronosequence of Forestry-Reclaimed Sites in Eastern Kentucky

Abstract

Surface mining for coal has contributed to widespread deforestation and soil loss in coal mining regions around the world, and particularly in Appalachia, USA. Mined land reforestation is of interest in this and other regions where forests are the dominant pre-mining land use. This study evaluated mine soil development on surface-mined sites reforested according to the Forestry Reclamation Approach, representing a chronosequence of time ranging from 0 to 19 years after reclamation. Soils were sampled in depth increments to 50 cm and analyzed for a suite of soil physical and chemical characteristics. Overall, soil fines (silt + clay) tended to increase over time since reclamation (17% silt at year 0 increasing to 35% at year 11; 3.2% clay at year 0 increasing to 5.7% at year 14) while concentrations of metals (e.g., Al, Mg, Mn, Na) demonstrated varied relationships with time since reclamation. Concentrations of organic carbon (OC) tended to increase with time (0.9% OC at year 0 increasing to 2.3% at year 14), and were most enriched in near-surface soils. Some soil characteristics (e.g., Na, OC, Ca) demonstrated patterns of increasing similarity to the forest control, while others were distinct from the forest control throughout the chronosequence (e.g., Al, clay, Mn, gravel). Future surveys of these soils over time will elucidate longer-term patterns in soil development, and better characterize the time scales over which these soils might be expected to approximate forest soil conditions.

Effect of reclamation years on soil physical, chemical, bacterial, and fungal community compositions in an open‐pit coal mine dump in grassland area of Inner Mongolia, China

“…Soil fine (silt + clay) particle contents were increased over time since reclamation in an open‐pit coal mine dump in grassland area in this study, which had a positive effect on soil functions, especially moisture and nutrient retention (Sena et al, 2021). The increase of clay and silt in soil may be due to the increase of soil organic matter and soil nutrient status after reclamation in the open‐pit coal mine dumps of grassland area (Huang et al, 2016).…”

“…Soil TP, AP, AK and CEC had negative effects on soil bacterial community compositions while ACP, available nitrogen (AN), SOM, WAT, and sand content had positive effects on soil fungal community compositions. 4 | DISCUSSION 4.1 | Soil physic-chemical characteristics Soil fine (silt + clay) particle contents were increased over time since reclamation in an open-pit coal mine dump in grassland area in this study, which had a positive effect on soil functions, especially moisture and nutrient retention(Sena et al, 2021). The increase of clay and silt in soil may be due to the increase of soil organic matter and soil nutrient status after reclamation in the open-pit coal mine dumps of grassland area(Huang et al, 2016).…”

Early production of switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) and willow (Salix spp.) indicates carbon accumulation potential in Appalachian reclaimed mine and agriculture soil

“…For example, in this region, there are over 60 million ha of marginal lands, including an abundance of reclaimed mined land (Emery et al., 2017; Lemus & Lal, 2005), which offer unique challenges and opportunities for crop production and the accumulation of soil organic matter (SOM). Examples of the challenging soil characteristics of reclaimed mined lands related to both agronomic production and SOM stabilization include the presence of rock fragments (can be ∼50% of mineral soil), low clay content (<3%), compaction, relatively little topsoil and soil aggregation, low microbial activity, low pH, and the relatively low ability to store plant available water and essential nutrients (Haering et al., 2004; Johnson & Skousen, 1995; Sollins et al., 1996; Sena et al., 2021; Zipper et al., 2011). Despite these challenges, highly disturbed soils can sequester carbon (C) at higher rates compared to less disturbed soils due to lower initial organic C concentrations (Blanco‐Canqui, 2016; Lal, 2015; Paustien et al., 2019).…”

Assessing soil properties in various agroforestry lands in Kuningan District, West Java, Indonesia using Visual Evaluation of Soil Structure (VESS)

“…Data by WRI (2021) showed that Indonesia was the fourth-largest country to lose the tropical primary forest in 2021 with 202,905 ha. Deforestation and land-use conversion affect land quality, especially if the forest is converted into intensive agriculture and plantation areas (Li et al 2020;Naharuddin et al 2019;Sena et al 2021;Song 2017). Such conversion involves complex cultivation activities, including land clearing and preparation, intensive planting and maintenance, and harvesting which usually use heavy mechanical tools (Veldkamp et al 2020;Assefa et al 2017).…”

“…Intensive agricultural practices have negative impacts on soil physical properties, such as the increase in soil bulk density and resistance to penetration, and decrease in soil aeration, aggregation stability and water infiltration, and therefore increase in the risk of soil erosion (Cherubin et al 2016b(Cherubin et al , 2017Hasannudin et al 2022). It takes a long time to improve soil quality following soil degradation due to intensive agriculture (Veldkamp et al 2020;Sena et al 2021). In this regard, agroforestry is an alternative land use option to recover soil conditions.…”