Soil carbon development in rejuvenated Indian coal mine spoil

Abstract

a b s t r a c tThe impact of mine spoil on the landscape is significant, as excavated rock-debris is commonly disposed in heaps that blanket the original land surface. Spoil heaps destroy the original soil habitat releasing soilbound carbon, which is difficult to re-estate when mining operations cease and restoration begins. The present work follows the development of vegetative cover on a coalmine spoil tip in India over a period of 19 years following restoration. The potential of re-vegetated the mine spoil to imbibe carbon is examined through the development of above-and below-ground biomass development. It was observed that the soil organic carbon and microbial biomass carbon (MBC) significantly increased with re-vegetation age, with above ground biomass increasing by 23 times, and belowground biomass increased by 26 times during the period of study. Soil organic carbon and MBC increased by 4× and 6.6× times, respectively. The average calculated annual carbon budget was 8.40 T/ha/year, of which 2.14 T/ha was allocated to above ground biomass, 0.31 T/ha to belowground biomass, 2.88 T/ha to litter mass and 1.35 T/ha was sequestered into the soil. This work has shown that the development of biomass following the restoration of mine spoil was significant and that considerable quantities of carbon were stored in above and below ground plant matter, and in the soil itself. It is concluded that appropriate restoration strategies can be used to rapidly establish a viable, healthy and sustainable ecosystem that imbibes carbon into former mine-impacted land.

Estimation of carbon sequestration in reclaimed coalmine degraded land dominated by Albizia lebbeck, Dalbergia sissoo and Bambusa arundinacea plantation: a case study from Jharia Coalfields, India

“…11 Distribution of total carbon (%), inorganic carbon (%), coal carbon (%) and biogenic carbon (%) of different reclaimed mine soil samples Rumpel et al (1998Rumpel et al ( , 2000 Old Reclaimed coal mines 4 0-10 8.7 43 Present study much higher than the reported values of 1.658 Mg C ha -1 year -1 (Singrauli, Tripathi et al 2014Tripathi et al , 2016, which is due to the younger age of site, however, it is expected that, rate of accumulation will decrease with age. Based on rate of SOC accumulation rate, C stock of RMS will reach close to the level of reference forest site is predicted as 15 years.…”

“…Studies across the globe on C sequestration through reclaimed coal mine soils have received considerable attention in recent past (IPCC 2000;Lal 2000, 2001;Ussiri and Lal 2005;Sperow 2006;Amichev et al 2008;Shrestha and Lal 2010;Tripathi et al 2014Tripathi et al , 2016Das and Maiti 2016). The CO 2 sequestration in reclaimed mine sites is calculated by estimating C-stock of biomass (aboveground and belowground), litter and reclaimed minesoils (Fig.…”

Contribution of plant litter and soil variables to organic carbon pools following tropical forest development after slash‐and‐burn agriculture

“…These changes accordingly increase the refractory carbon fractions, thereby enhancing soil carbon stability. The drop in ROC abundance is associated with a decrease in amino acids, carbohydrates, and other compounds in soils (Tripathi et al, ). Therefore, the abundance of labile fractions can be used as an effective index to estimate the alterations in carbon sequestration and soil fertility during forest restoration (Chen et al, ).…”

“…Furthermore, a significant change in the composition and structure of plant community would have a crucial effect on labile carbon accumulation during forest restoration. It is not well known about how plants and soils regulate the variations in carbon pools during the restoration of tropical forests (Tripathi, Singh, & Hills, ). Therefore, identifying the dominant factors controlling the carbon dynamics could aid in determining the mechanism of soil carbon accumulation in tropical forests.…”

Land use/land cover change detection analysis using remote sensing and GIS of Dhanbad distritct, India

“…However, the need to meet the rising standard of living around the world has formed unfavourable impact on the environment and more so in the developing countries, like India which is striving to achieve the economic growth of 7.50% (www.tradingeconomics.com) for sustaining an ever-growing human population. It has resulted in over-exploitation of natural resources for different activities like deforestation, overgrazing, cultivation of marginal lands, mining and industrialization to meet the increasing demand for food, fuel and fiber (Areendran et al, 2013), influencing the topography, soil properties (Tripathi et al, 2009a), carbon storage, emission (Tripathi et al, 2014(Tripathi et al, , 2016 and plant productivity. Therefore, the land use change can be one of the best tools to understand the changes occurring due to mining and other allied industrial activities.…”