Restoring Forests and Associated Ecosystem Services on Appalachian Coal Surface Mines

被引:264
作者
Zipper, Carl E. [1 ]
Burger, James A. [2 ]
Skousen, Jeffrey G. [3 ]
Angel, Patrick N. [4 ]
Barton, Christopher D. [5 ]
Davis, Victor [4 ]
Franklin, Jennifer A. [6 ]
机构
[1] Virginia Polytech Inst & State Univ, Dept Crop & Soil Environm Sci, Blacksburg, VA 24061 USA
[2] Virginia Polytech Inst & State Univ, Dept Forest Resources & Environm Conservat, Blacksburg, VA 24061 USA
[3] W Virginia Univ, Dept Plant & Soil Sci, Morgantown, WV 26506 USA
[4] USDI, Off Surface Min Reclamat & Enforcement, London, KY 40741 USA
[5] Univ Kentucky, Dept Forestry, Lexington, KY 40506 USA
[6] Univ Tennessee, Dept Forestry, Knoxville, TN 37996 USA
关键词
Afforestation; Appalachia; Coal mines; Forest restoration; Land reclamation; SOUTHERN WEST-VIRGINIA; EASTERN UNITED-STATES; LAND-USE CHANGE; WHITE-PINE; SOUTHWESTERN VIRGINIA; COMMUNITY-DEVELOPMENT; SPOIL CONDITIONS; SEEDLING GROWTH; SOIL PROPERTIES; TREE SURVIVAL;
D O I
10.1007/s00267-011-9670-z
中图分类号
X [环境科学、安全科学];
学科分类号
083001 [环境科学];
摘要
Surface coal mining in Appalachia has caused extensive replacement of forest with non-forested land cover, much of which is unmanaged and unproductive. Although forested ecosystems are valued by society for both marketable products and ecosystem services, forests have not been restored on most Appalachian mined lands because traditional reclamation practices, encouraged by regulatory policies, created conditions poorly suited for reforestation. Reclamation scientists have studied productive forests growing on older mine sites, established forest vegetation experimentally on recent mines, and identified mine reclamation practices that encourage forest vegetation re-establishment. Based on these findings, they developed a Forestry Reclamation Approach (FRA) that can be employed by coal mining firms to restore forest vegetation. Scientists and mine regulators, working collaboratively, have communicated the FRA to the coal industry and to regulatory enforcement personnel. Today, the FRA is used routinely by many coal mining firms, and thousands of mined hectares have been reclaimed to restore productive mine soils and planted with native forest trees. Reclamation of coal mines using the FRA is expected to restore these lands' capabilities to provide forest-based ecosystem services, such as wood production, atmospheric carbon sequestration, wildlife habitat, watershed protection, and water quality protection to a greater extent than conventional reclamation practices.
引用
收藏
页码:751 / 765
页数:15
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