IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jlands/v9y2020i11p455-d446657.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

From the Ground Up: Prairies on Reclaimed Mine Land—Impacts on Soil and Vegetation

Author

Listed:
  • Rebecca M. Swab

    (MAD Scientist Associates, Westerville, OH 43081, USA)

  • Nicola Lorenz

    (School of Environment and Natural Resources, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA)

  • Nathan R. Lee

    (School of Environment and Natural Resources, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA)

  • Steven W. Culman

    (School of Environment and Natural Resources, The Ohio State University, Wooster, OH 44691, USA)

  • Richard P. Dick

    (School of Environment and Natural Resources, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA)

Abstract

After strip mining, soils typically suffer from compaction, low nutrient availability, loss of soil organic carbon, and a compromised soil microbial community. Prairie restorations can improve ecosystem services on former agricultural lands, but prairie restorations on mine lands are relatively under-studied. This study investigated the impact of prairie restoration on mine lands, focusing on the plant community and soil properties. In southeast Ohio, 305 ha within a ~2000 ha area of former mine land was converted to native prairie through herbicide and planting between 1999–2016. Soil and vegetation sampling occurred from 2016–2018. Plant community composition shifted with prairie age, with highest native cover in the oldest prairie areas. Prairie plants were more abundant in older prairies. The oldest prairies had significantly more soil fungal biomass and higher soil microbial biomass. However, many soil properties (e.g., soil nutrients, β-glucosoidase activity, and soil organic carbon), as well as plant species diversity and richness trended higher in prairies, but were not significantly different from baseline cool-season grasslands. Overall, restoration with prairie plant communities slowly shifted soil properties, but mining disturbance was still the most significant driver in controlling soil properties. Prairie restoration on reclaimed mine land was effective in establishing a native plant community, with the associated ecosystem benefits.

Suggested Citation

  • Rebecca M. Swab & Nicola Lorenz & Nathan R. Lee & Steven W. Culman & Richard P. Dick, 2020. "From the Ground Up: Prairies on Reclaimed Mine Land—Impacts on Soil and Vegetation," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(11), pages 1-19, November.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:9:y:2020:i:11:p:455-:d:446657
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/9/11/455/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/9/11/455/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Editorial Article, 0. "Contents," Economics of Contemporary Russia, Regional Public Organization for Assistance to the Development of Institutions of the Department of Economics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, issue 3.
    2. Editorial Article, 0. "Contents," Economics of Contemporary Russia, Regional Public Organization for Assistance to the Development of Institutions of the Department of Economics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, issue 2.
    3. Editorial Article, 0. "Contents," Economics of Contemporary Russia, Regional Public Organization for Assistance to the Development of Institutions of the Department of Economics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, issue 3.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Drew A. Scott & Kathryn D. Eckhoff & Nicola Lorenz & Richard Dick & Rebecca M. Swab, 2021. "Diversity Is Not Everything," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-20, October.
    2. Xiang Fan & Yanjun Guan & Zhongke Bai & Wei Zhou & Chuxin Zhu, 2022. "Optimization of Reclamation Measures in a Mining Area by Analysis of Variations in Soil Nutrient Grades under Different Types of Land Usage—A Case Study of Pingshuo Coal Mine, China," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-19, February.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Dennis Coates & Brad R. Humphreys, 2008. "Do Economists Reach a Conclusion on Subsidies for Sports Franchises, Stadiums, and Mega-Events?," Econ Journal Watch, Econ Journal Watch, vol. 5(3), pages 294-315, September.
    2. Blair Jenkins, 2009. "Rent Control: Do Economists Agree?," Econ Journal Watch, Econ Journal Watch, vol. 6(1), pages 73-112, January.
    3. Ann Mari May, 2008. "On Gender Balance in the Economics Profession," Econ Journal Watch, Econ Journal Watch, vol. 5(2), pages 193-198, May.
    4. Peter Hennecke, 2021. "The ECB’s New Monetary Policy Strategy," Intereconomics: Review of European Economic Policy, Springer;ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics;Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), vol. 56(5), pages 295-298, September.
    5. Toma Lankauskiene, 2021. "Labour Productivity Growth Determinants in the Manufacturing Sector in the Baltic States," ConScienS Conference Proceedings 025tl, Research Association for Interdisciplinary Studies.
    6. Lars P Feld & Volker Wieland, 2021. "The German Federal Constitutional Court Ruling and the European Central Bank’s Strategy," Journal of Financial Regulation, Oxford University Press, vol. 7(2), pages 217-253.
    7. Núñez Ferrer, Jorge, 2021. "Avoiding the Main Risks in the Recovery Plans of Member States," CEPS Papers 32463, Centre for European Policy Studies.
    8. Garett Jones, 2008. "What Is the Right Number of Women? Hints and Puzzles from Cognitive Ability Research," Econ Journal Watch, Econ Journal Watch, vol. 5(2), pages 227-239, May.
    9. Lars Jonung & Eoin Drea, 2010. "It Can't Happen, It's a Bad Idea, It Won't Last: U.S. Economists on the EMU and the Euro, 1989–2002," Econ Journal Watch, Econ Journal Watch, vol. 7(1), pages 1-4–52, January.
    10. Ian Ayres & John J. Donohue, 2009. "Yet Another Refutation of the More Guns, Less Crime Hypothesis—With Some Help From Moody and Marvell," Econ Journal Watch, Econ Journal Watch, vol. 6(1), pages 35-59, January.
    11. Richard Jong-A-Pin & Jakob De Haan, 2008. "Growth Accelerations and Regime Changes: A Correction," Econ Journal Watch, Econ Journal Watch, vol. 5(1), pages 51-58, January.
    12. E. Frank Stephenson & Erin E. Wendt, 2009. "Occupational Licensing: Scant Treatment in Labor Texts," Econ Journal Watch, Econ Journal Watch, vol. 6(2), pages 181-194, May.
    13. Kjerstin Tevik & Geir Selbæk & Knut Engedal & Arnfinn Seim & Steinar Krokstad & Anne-S Helvik, 2019. "Mortality in older adults with frequent alcohol consumption and use of drugs with addiction potential – The Nord Trøndelag Health Study 2006-2008 (HUNT3), Norway, a population-based study," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(4), pages 1-24, April.
    14. Yoshihisa Amae & Jens Damm, 2011. "“Whither Taiwanization?†State, Society and Cultural Production in the New Era," Journal of Current Chinese Affairs - China aktuell, Institute of Asian Studies, GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies, Hamburg, vol. 40(1), pages 3-17.
    15. Yunhee Park & Hyun-Jung Yun, 2020. "A Multilevel Investigation of Fall Prevention Behavior Among Nursing Staff of South Korean Geriatric Hospitals," Global Journal of Health Science, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 12(10), pages 1-97, September.
    16. Arthur M. Diamond, Jr., 2007. "Thriving at Amazon: How Schumpeter Lives in Books Today," Econ Journal Watch, Econ Journal Watch, vol. 4(3), pages 338-344, September.
    17. Paul Trampe, 2008. "The EITC Disincentive: A Reply to Dr. Hilary Hoynes," Econ Journal Watch, Econ Journal Watch, vol. 5(1), pages 59-65, January.
    18. Michael L. Marlow, 2008. "Honestly, Who Else Would Fund Such Research? Reflections of a Non-Smoking Scholar," Econ Journal Watch, Econ Journal Watch, vol. 5(2), pages 240-268, May.
    19. Junghyun Yoon & Dae-su Kim, 2016. "Empirical Relationships among Technological Characteristics, Global Orientation, and Internationalisation of South Korean New Ventures," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(12), pages 1-13, December.
    20. Philip R. P. Coelho & James E. McClure, 2008. "The Market for Lemmas: Evidence That Complex Models Rarely Operate in Our World," Econ Journal Watch, Econ Journal Watch, vol. 5(1), pages 78-90, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:9:y:2020:i:11:p:455-:d:446657. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.