Each year in West Virginia, thousands of acres of land are disturbed during the process of surface mining for coal. By law, mining companies must reclaim areas they disturb by replacing soil and rock they moved to reach coal seams and planting vegetation. However, even after reclamation, these extremely disturbed areas have characteristics that can restrict plant growth. Undisturbed topsoils contain nutrient and carbon rich materials that allow plants to thrive. But topsoils are thin in West Virginia and, when they are removed to get to the coal seams below, it is difficult for miners and reclamationists to keep them separate from rock layers and return them to the surface. The substitute materials that end up on top often do not have the organic content necessary to sustain plant growth. At a reclaimed surface coalmine near Charleston, WV, we are examining the role that an organic amendment can have on soil quality and plant growth. Poultry litter, normally considered a waste product, was processed through an anaerobic, thermophilic digester and was used as the organic amendment at the study site. The processed litter had liquid and solid components and each were applied at various levels to 112 plots. Subsequently, plots were seeded with different combinations of plants representing seeding mixes typically used by reclamationists in the region for various post-mining land uses such as pasture or forestry. Plant surveys began in fall 2008, one year after plots were established, and have continued twice annually with the most recent data collected in the spring of 2010. All species found in plots were identified, stems were counted, and cover was estimated.
Results/Conclusions
Data collected reveal variation in plant species diversity and cover among our treatment combinations of poultry litter amendments and seeding mixes. As expected, plots with higher amounts of amendments yielded more plant cover. However, solid and liquid components of the digested poultry litter differed in their effects on plant cover. Interestingly, nearly 50 species were found across plots even though only 12 were sown in plots suggesting that natural succession of plants from adjacent areas colonize readily when conditions are favorable. Continued research at the site aims to identify techniques that may be incorporated into reclamation practices that will enhance plant productivity of these stressful environments.
