English

Abstract

There is increasing interest in the restoration of native Appalachian hardwood forests using the Forestry Reclamation Approach (FRA) on sites that are being reclaimed following surface mining for coal. Additionally, much interest has developed in the deployment of American chestnut trees that have been improved through breeding to have both blight resistance and timber tree stature. Including chestnuts in planting mixes for the FRA is one potential method to efficiently re- introduce them in the central Appalachian region, but the viability of this method needs to be assessed. There are further questions regarding how choices of herbaceous vegetation and grading practices affect tree survival and growth and plant succession on reforested mine sites. A new experiment combining components of the FRA with plantings of American chestnut trees was begun in the spring of 2008 on active coal-mining sites in Virginia with the goal of directly assessing the effects of grading and groundcover treatments on reforestation success, using a planting mix that includes American chestnut. On each of the three sites: half of the experimental area was smooth-graded and tracked-in as per common reclamation practice, and the other half was loose-graded as recommended using the FRA. Within each grading treatment plot, one third of the area was hydro-seeded with a conventional herbaceous vegetation mix, one third was seeded with a tree compatible herbaceous mix and one third was seeded with annual ryegrass. All treatments were planted with a mix of native hardwood trees. The loose-graded sections were also planted with six genotypes of chestnut, including pure American, Chinese, and American x Chinese crosses. Tree survival and growth, groundcover, and native plant volunteers were measured. After one growing season, tree survival was not affected by any of the experimental treatments. The tree compatible mix and the conventional mix provided significantly more ground cover by August than did the annual rye. Loose grading reduced soil loss compared to smooth grading. Chestnut trees grown from planted nuts were competitive with other species' survival rates.