Thinning Response of a White Pine Stand on a Reclaimed Surface Mine in Southwestern Virginia

Abstract

White pine (Pinus strobus L.) is planted extensively following reclamation of surface-mined land in the eastern coalfields. Little information exists on the productive potential of forests growing on reclaimed mined land and the response of these forests to intermediate stand treatments such as thinning. A thinning study was established in a 17-year-old white pine stand growing on a reclaimed surface mine in Wise County in southwest Virginia. A random complete block design was used to evaluate the growth response 9 growing seasons after thinning, when the stand was 26 years old. Stand parameters were projected to age 30 using a stand table projection. Site index of the stand was found to be 105 ft at a base age of 50 years. Thinning increased the diameter growth of the residual trees to 0.3 in. year−1 compared with 0.2 in. year−1 for the unthinned treatment; however, at age 26, there was no difference in volume or value per acre. When projected to age 30, the unthinned treatment had a volume of 6,530 ft3 ac−1 but was only worth $3,564 ac−1, whereas the thinned treatment was projected to have 6,654 ft3 ac−1, which was worth $4,559 ac−1 due to a larger percentage of the volume in sawtimber size classes. These results indicate that commercial forestry is a viable alternative for reclamation of surface-mined lands and that stands growing on reclaimed mined land can respond well to intermediate stand treatments.

Assessing the Long-Term Ecosystem Productivity Benefits and Potential Impacts of Forests Re-Established on a Mine Tailings Site

“…These results are congruent with many other studies that show that forests on revegetated post mining sites can be highly productive [56,57]. For example, white pine plantations growing on reclaimed surface mine land in Virginia was projected to have a site index higher than natural white pine stands in that region [58], while three different boreal species in Alberta growing on restored oil sands mining sites have similar site indices to undisturbed natural stands [59]. Like previous studies [7], total C stock of the revegetated site had not yet reached the same levels as what was present in analogous managed forest stands growing under natural conditions (Figure 7).…”

Rebuilding Soils on Mined Land for Native Forests in Appalachia

“…Because pre-SMCRA mines often excavated to less depth than post-SMCRA mines, the authors speculated that the forest growth media on the pre-SMCRA mine sites studied were comprised of native soil, weathered spoils, or were mixtures of soil and weathered and unweathered spoils. Casselman et al (2007) measured the productivity of eastern white pine growing on a Virginia mine site reclaimed in 1979 with mine soils constructed from weathered sandstones. At age 26, the projected 50-yr SI exceeded the average SI for natural soils in the southern Appalachians.…”