English

Abstract

There is a surging interest in restoring forests on surface mined lands in the Appalachians. Many lands reclaimed since the passage of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA) have dense ground covers and compacted soil materials, in some cases associated with unfavorable soil chemical properties. To address these concerns, three previously reclaimed mined sites were located in Lawrence County, OH; Nicholas County, WV; and Wise County, VA. At each site, Eastern white pine, hybrid poplar, and mixed Appalachian hardwoods were planted at three levels of silvicultural intensity (weed control only, weed control with soil ripping, and weed control with soil ripping and fertilization). Each combination of species and treatment was repeated three times in each of the three states for a total of 9 replications and 81 treatment plots. The OH sites were dominated by compacted siltstone backfill with a thin topsoil cap, the WV sites by shale fragments through the profile and the VA sites by mixed shale and sandstone fragments through the profile with a crushed sandstone cap. Trees were measured in October of 2007 after 4 years of growth. Across all treatments and species, Virginia had a higher survival rate, 70.7%, than West Virginia, 49.4%, and Ohio, 40.3%. West Virginia had a higher biomass index per tree, 5,673 cm 3 (cubic centimeters), than Ohio, 1,446 cm 3 Across all states and treatments, the survival rates of mixed hardwoods, 63.2%, and hybrid poplar, 55.1%, were greater than that of Eastern white pine, 42.1%. Total biomass index per tree for hybrid poplar, 10,024 cm 3 , was greater than that for Eastern white pine, 258 cm 3 , and mixed hardwoods, 138 cm 3 . Survival across all states and species was increased from 44% to 64% with ripping. Ripping plus weed control increased average biomass index from approximately 1,000 cm 3 per tree to 5,000 cm 3 per tree over weed control only. All species achieved their highest biomass values for this study on the West Virginia shale-based spoils and their highest survival rates on the Virginia sandstone-dominated spoils. When restoring forest vegetation to previously reclaimed mine sites with unfavorable soil and vegetation properties, the use of silvicultural treatments (weed control and soil ripping, with or without fertilization) can aid survival and growth.