Evaluating the Vegetation Development of Coal-Mine Dumps

Abstract

Reforestation of overburden coal dumps requires new, complex reclamation methods. Competent and well-planned reclamation projects ensure a positive current-state evaluation of disturbed areas. The research objective was to describe the new vegetation that appears on natural areas after industrial disturbance. The study involved pioneer plant communities that developed on a coal dump slope on the Taldinskiy coal field, Kuzbass, in the summer of 2021.The research involved a wide range of engineering and geological surveys, as well as a set of methods of geobotanical, taxonomic, biomorphological, and ecological analyses. The data were obtained by remote sensing. The route reconnaissance of coal dumps with uncontrolled vegetation revealed the following results. The total plant cover on undisturbed areas had a mosaic pattern and ranged from 70 to 75%. The forest plat communities consisted of 101 plant species and 33 families. The maximal species diversity belonged to the following families: Asteraceae – 13 species, Fabaceae – 11 species, Poaceae – 8 species, Brassicaceae, Lamiaceae, Ranunculaceae, and Rosaceae – 5 species, Apiaceae, Boraginaceae, Campanulaceae, Caryophyllaceae, Chenopodiaceae, Cyperaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Equisetaceae, Pinaceae, Plantaginaceae, Polygonaceae, Salicaceae, and Scrophulariaceae – 2–4 species. The Taldinskiy coal field dump was evaluated as a technogenically disturbed site with a low biomorphological and species diversity. It had a larger share of weeds, and its ratio of plant communities differed from the background phytocenosis. The type of vegetation corresponded to the first stage of plant development on technogenic areas and was defined as the stage of sparse pioneer vegetation