Water regime of reclaimed and unreclaimed post‐mining sites

Abstract

Water regime, throughfall, stemflow, soil water storage, subsurface runoff, and meteorological parameters were studied during 2 years (2011–2012) in 2 reclaimed and 2 unreclaimed post‐mining sites near Sokolov (Czech Republic). All sites were 25–35 years old, covered by woody vegetation, and developed on the same overburden consisting of tertiary clays. Interception of water by vegetation was about one third of precipitation in both reclaimed and unreclaimed sites; stemflow also did not differ significantly between sites and represented less than 10% of interception. Both reclaimed and unreclaimed sites have stable amount of soil water in the soil profile independent of precipitation, but water storage in reclaimed sites was significantly higher. The results suggest that after 25–35 years, there is no major difference in water budget of reclaimed and unreclaimed sites that develop by unassisted natural succession.

Changes of Water Budget during Ecosystem Development in Post-Mining Sites at Various Spatiotemporal Scales: The Need for Controlled Systems

“…This means that alder sites have higher water field capacity but also higher wilting point as compared to regrowth sites (Figure 2). The water regime at both sites after 30 years of development was basically similar, but higher moisture and consequently higher soil-water storage were found at the alder plantation (Figure 3), which is consistent with the already reported high water field capacity at these sites [12,30,39].…”

“…It seems that soil-water storage is closely linked with SOM storage. Similarly, as proposed by Cejpek et al [39], plants with a fast-growing strategy, which tend to store more SOM in mineral soil [3,6], also tend to produce soil aggregates with more bound OM [20] and, consequently, soils store more water [19,22,30,39]. This concept opens many other questions, such as how these parameters relate to the water balance (e.g., to runoff and evapotranspiration), how historical changes in soil carbon storage and water retention affect subsequent ecosystem development, and many others.…”

“…This indicates a higher water transpiration at reclaimed alder plantations than at unreclaimed woody regrowth sites [41]. A slightly higher water consumption at reclaimed alder plantations compared to unreclaimed plots has been indicated also by a complete water budget on these plots [39].…”

“…For example, Frouz et al [40] investigating reclaimed alder plantations and unreclaimed post-mining sites, found that biomass of reclaimed sites Hydrology of Artificial and Controlled Experiments increased faster early after reclamation, but later on, differences between reclaimed and unreclaimed sites decrease, and older unreclaimed sites show even higher biomass that reclaimed ones. With increasing vegetation cover, water consumption by transpiration also increased [30,39]. This can be ascribed to an increased temperature buffering.…”

Biohydrology—Walking on drylands and swimming through pores

“…They found that by improving soil hydraulic conditions, composts and sewage sludge greatly improved plant growth, whereas gravel and woodchip mulches applied to the soil surface had little impact on plant responses or soil properties. A longer‐term study on vegetation succession impacts on the soil water regime of post‐mining soils that had either been reclaimed or left to natural recovery is presented by Cejpek et al (). They found that in the 30 years since mining ceased, the water regime on the mining sites was similar to surrounding forests and that spontaneous forest regrowth in unreclaimed areas resulted in a similar water regime to reclaimed areas.…”