Revegetation on a Coal Fine Ash Disposal Site in South Africa

Abstract

AbstractEight medium amendments were conducted on top of a fine ash coal dump (i) to evaluate a few cost‐effective treatments that could determine the minimum fertility status required for the local ash to support the establishment of a viable vegetation cover, and (ii) to select suitable grass species that would establish on the ash and could serve as a foundation for long‐term rehabilitation. Degree and success of grass establishment per medium amelioration treatment is expressed in terms of total biomass, percentage basal cover, and in terms of a condition assessment model. Both the chemical and physical nature of the ash medium before and after amendment was characterized, as were the concentrations of some essential and potentially toxic elements in leaf samples. In terms of medium amelioration 5000 kg ha−1 compost, or 500 kg ha−1 kraal manure or 480 kg 2:3:2 ha−1 proved to be most effective. The grass species that occurred with the highest frequency, irrespective of treatment, were the perennials bermudagrass [Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers. var. dactylon], weeping lovegrass [Eragrostis curvula (Schrader) Nees], and the annual teff [Eragrostis tef (Zuccagni) Trotter]. Of the potentially toxic extractable metals monitored in the leaves of vegetation on the dump, only Se accumulated to an average level of 4.4 mg kg−1 that could be toxic to livestock.