Diversity of Vegetation Dominated by Selected Grass Species on Coal-Mine Spoil Heaps in Terms of Reclamation of Post-Industrial Areas

Abstract

Grasses have considerable potential for adaptation to various often extreme habitat conditions. The aim of the work is to present the vegetation diversity of the coal-mine spoil heaps with the dominant share of grasses and to identify the main factors responsible for this diversity in the aspect of post-industrial land reclamation. The communities differ in reference of species preferences to light, moisture, soil fertility and reaction, what is reflected in the wide variety of microhabitats in the area. It has been shown that the increase in abundance of certain grass species Calamagrostis epigejos, Festuca rubra, Festuca arundinacea, Phragmites australis has a significant negative impact on the species richness, species diversity and the uniformity of distribution of species of the plant community. Preliminary analyzes revealed that on post-mining waste biomass production of the dominant species is negatively correlated with biodiversity. Knowledge about biology and ecology of grass species, as well as, on the assembly rules may be used in the reclamation of degraded areas. Gaining knowledge about the vegetation diversity of the coal-mine spoil heaps with the dominant share of grass can be useful in planning reclamation works taking into account natural processes, which leads to the creation of a permanent vegetation cover in the area, protecting it against water or wind erosion, and in the future these areas may provide a number of important ecosystem services.

Keywords

• grass species
• dominants
• diversity
• biomass
• coal-mine spoil heaps
• plant community
• reclamation