Trade-offs relating to grassland and forest mine reclamation approaches in the central Appalachian region and implications for the songbird community

Margenau, Eric L.; Wood, Petra Bohall; Weakland, Cathy A.; Brown, Donald J.

doi:10.5751/ace-01304-140102

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…The complex ecosystem associated with mature woodland has yet to become established. However, elsewhere, mosaic and shrub-land habitats have proved best for increasing, at least, songbird diversity on reclaimed coal lands [70]. Here, results from mammal surveys suggest increases in diversity, numbers, and the length of food chains, while the bird seed fall work, which also suggests increasing populations and ecosystem productivity, demonstrates how forestation has significantly increased seed fall and so accelerated recolonisation of the site by local tree species.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 70%

Successful Ecological Regeneration of Opencast Coal Mine Spoils through Forestation: From Cradle to Grove

Haigh

Woodruffe²,

D’Aucourt³

et al. 2020

Minerals

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The reclamation of surface (opencast) coal mines is not always successful; there remains a legacy of degraded land that burdens local communities. This article evaluates a community-oriented, low-cost means of geoecological regeneration, the “Cradle for Nature” strategy, which uses mosaic tree planting to foster positive natural ecological processes. Results show that, while the autocompaction of minestones quickly raises soil densities to levels hostile to plant growth, forestation helps moderate soil densities. Weathering concentrates metals in minestones, but 14 years of forestation reduced the loadings of five metals by 35–52%. Twenty years of forestation doubled soil organic carbon to >7%; increased bacilli from 7% to 46%; actinomycetes from 10% to 26%; and soil microbe counts 12–15 times, especially in tree plantings treated with fertiliser. Soils under trees also supported a significantly greater earthworm biomass than under grass but, while open-canopy plantings had increased ground flora biodiversity, closed-canopy plantings had lower diversity and biomass. Following closure to grazing, ground biomass increased sevenfold. Young trees act as bird perches and significantly increase seed fall. Small mammal biomass and biodiversity increases after tree planting and higher predators appear. Varteg’s constructed forest provides an effective “cradle” for an emergent geoecological system and its habitat mosaic maximises biodiversity.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 70%

Successful Ecological Regeneration of Opencast Coal Mine Spoils through Forestation: From Cradle to Grove

Haigh

Woodruffe²,

D’Aucourt³

et al. 2020

Minerals

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“…Knowledge on the adaptability of different plant species and their role in nutrient dynamics is vital to indulge in restoration measures through biological means (Gairola 2014). Margenau et al (2019) suggested plantation of native plant species accelerates the forest succession on degraded mined lands. The restoration of the degraded mine sites includes the control of all types of disturbances of soil, i.e., physical, chemical, and biological.…”

Section: Significance Of Soil Restorationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Native Plant Species: a Tool for Restoration of Mined Lands

Gairola

Bahuguna

Bhatt

2023

J Soil Sci Plant Nutr

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The COVID-19 epidemic, food and water insecurity, and the climate emergency have impacted the lives of billions of people worldwide. Ecosystems play a crucial role in tackling these problems. Hence, it is a prime necessity to keep the ecosystems safe and sustainably manage the resources. But this would not suffice for the protection and sustainable management of our surviving natural landscapes and oceans; we also need to restore the planet's devastated ecosystems and the enormous benefits they give. Mining exerts a lot of pressure on the land resources further depleting the fertility of the soil. The overburdened dumps are devoid of the nutrients which turns natural succession at a slow pace. The restoration of the degraded mined areas is essential to re-establish the ecological balance so that a self-sustaining ecosystem can be maintained. The plantation of selected species of plants could be a sustainable and organic tool for the restoration of the degraded mined land. In today's context, various ways regarding ecological restoration are suggested, but the native plant species plantation is the best tool for restoring the degraded land at a quicker pace. The present paper reviews the importance of the native plant species and their efficacy in restoring degraded mined land based on area and time of succession and climax.

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“…The observation that CNPs enhanced the seedling vigor index indicates that these seeds have enhanced capacity to be able to germinate, get establish, and survive under a range of challenging or stressful environmental conditions. This means that CNPs have the potential to enhance the vigor of native boreal forest seeds during propagation to facilitate plant growth under varied environments and may have applications in boreal forest restoration or reclamation programs [7,8,12].…”

Section: Effect Of Carbon Nanoparticles In Enhancing Seedling Vigormentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[6]. Natural resource extraction companies, for instance oil and gas companies, are mandated by law to return the ecologically important disturbed sites back to a functional upland boreal forest ecosystem, using native plant species [6][7][8]. Buffaloberry (Shepherdia canadensis L.) is a small shrub of the genus Shepherdia that produce edible berries.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Carbon Nanoparticles Functionalized with Carboxylic Acid Improved the Germination and Seedling Vigor in Upland Boreal Forest Species

Ali

Sobze

et al. 2020

Nanomaterials

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Nanopriming has been shown to significantly improve seed germination and seedling vigor in several agricultural crops. However, this approach has not been applied to native upland boreal forest species with complex seed dormancy to improve propagation. Herein, we demonstrate the effectiveness of carbon nanoparticles functionalized with carboxylic acids in resolving seed dormancy and improved the propagation of two native upland boreal forest species. Seed priming with carbon nanoparticles functionalized with carboxylic acids followed by stratification were observed to be the most effective in improving germination to 90% in green alder (Alnus viridis L.) compared to 60% in the control. Conversely, a combination of carbon nanoparticles (CNPs), especially multiwall carbon nanoparticles functionalized with carboxylic acid (MWCNT–COOH), cold stratification, mechanical scarification and hormonal priming (gibberellic acid) was effective for buffaloberry seeds (Shepherdia canadensis L.). Both concentrations (20 µg and 40 µg) of MWCNT–COOH had a higher percent germination (90%) compared to all other treatments. Furthermore, we observed the improvement in germination, seedling vigor and resolution of both embryo and seed coat dormancy in upland boreal forest species appears to be associated with the remodeling of C18:3 enriched fatty acids in the following seed membrane lipid molecular species: PC18:1/18:3, PG16:1/18:3, PE18:3/18:2, and digalactosyldiacylglycerol (DGDG18:3/18:3). These findings suggest that nanopriming may be a useful approach to resolve seed dormancy issues and improve the seed germination in non-resource upland boreal forest species ideally suited for forest reclamation following resource mining.

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Trade-offs relating to grassland and forest mine reclamation approaches in the central Appalachian region and implications for the songbird community

Cited by 5 publications

References 36 publications

Successful Ecological Regeneration of Opencast Coal Mine Spoils through Forestation: From Cradle to Grove

Successful Ecological Regeneration of Opencast Coal Mine Spoils through Forestation: From Cradle to Grove

Native Plant Species: a Tool for Restoration of Mined Lands

Carbon Nanoparticles Functionalized with Carboxylic Acid Improved the Germination and Seedling Vigor in Upland Boreal Forest Species

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