PARENT SESSION
Poster Session #13: Restoration Ecology.
Tuesday, August 7, 2001. Presentation from 10:30 AM to 12:00 PM. Exhibition Hall

Low natural invasion rate of woodland species onto West Virginia strip-mined lands.

Long, Amy¹, Handel, Steven¹, ¹

ABSTRACT- We investigated forest regeneration after cessation of strip-mining in southern West Virginia. Thirty reclaimed strip-mine sites (age after reclamation between 6 and 24 years) and 25 adjacent forest remnants were surveyed using point-quarter sampling to examine natural invasion rates and densities of woody plants. Three diameter at base size-classes were established, <2.54cm, 2.54-7.62cm, >7.62cm, for density studies. Four coal mining landscapes were evaluated: mountain-top removal (MTR); valley fills (VF); backfills (BF); contour mines (CM). Overall, species richness and density are greater in forest remnants than on adjacent reclaimed mines. Also, forest diversity of woody species (Shannon-Weiner index) was significantly greater than mine diversity. Mean stem density (per 25m2, per size-class) was calculated for 12 continuous transects from mines straight into forests. Total mean stem densities on mines are significantly lower than in forests for all size-classes. Comparison between mine types indicates that CMs have significantly more stems than all other mine types in the small and medium size-classes. However, large size-class densities on CMs are very low and comparable to other mine types. Invasion was generally restricted to 15 meters from mine edge. Changes must be made in soil quality and compaction and in initial ground cover treatments for natural invasion processes to improve and for restoration efforts to be effective.

KEY WORDS: strip-mining, natural invasion