Natural vegetation recovery on waste dump in opencast coalmine area

Abstract

The changes of vegetation compositions, plant species diversity, species important value and succession of plant community were studied on waste dumps in Haizhou opencast coalmine which is located in the west of Liaoning Province, China (41°41′–42°56′ N, 121°1′–122°56′E). Four kinds of terraces with different ages (5, 10, 20 and 40 years) were selected for investigation of plants. Total of 63 species of natural colonized plants were recorded on the waste dump and they belong to 23 families. The main families were Composiatae (15 species), Fabaceae (11 species) and Leguminosae (8 species), which accounted for 54.0% of total species and play an important role in natural vegetation recovery in waste dump area. The dominant species on 5-, 10-, 20-, 40-year-old terraces wereTribulus terrestris+Echinochloa hispidula+Salsola collina, Echinochloa hispidula+Artemisia sieversiana+Artemisia scoparia, Echinochloa hispidula+Clinelymus dahuricus+Artemisia scoparia+Artemisia sieversiana+Melilotus officinalis, Clinelymus dahuricus+Phragmites communis+ Echinochloa hispidula+Setaria viridis, respectively. According to the important value of species calculated. It is determined thatTribulus terrestris can act as pioneer species on waste dump andClinelymus dahuricus, Phragmites communis andEchinochloah hispidula are important dominant species in vegetation restoration in Haizhou opencast coalmine. The study results can provide scientific basis for selecting and disposing appropriately plant species and rehabilitating vegetation on waste dumps of coalmine.

Keywords

Haizhou / Opencast coalmine / Waste dump / Plant community / Restoration / Q948 / A

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