Influence of environmental conditions on seed infusion and forest regeneration at coal mine dumps of Kuzbass

Abstract

The paper studies the number of seeds of woody plants falling on coal dumps of Kuzbass located in the northern and southern parts of Kuznetsk basin and in the mountain taiga belt of the lowlands of the Kuznetsk Alatau, as well as the number of regenerations, including shoots and young undergrowth. Large quantities of birch seeds (from 200 thousand to 2 million seeds per ha, and in the favorable conditions of growth in the forest in the mountain taiga belt of the Kuznetsk Alatau up to 4 million seeds per ha) fall on the dumps. To a smaller extent, the seeds of aspen, poplar and willows, and to an even smaller degree of Scots pine, fall on the dumps. In the mountain taiga belt, Siberian fir seeds have been registered. The number of seeds and forest regenerations on dumps depend on the shape of the meso- micro- and nanorelief, which causes the uneven distribution of shoots and undergrowth. The best conditions for natural regeneration are in favorable ecological niches characterized by pronounced microrelief, the presence of scattered, moist, loess-like carbonate rocks with a developed humus accumulating embryozem. Natural reforestation under unfavorable environmental conditions (with the exception of sea buckthorn) is slow.

Keywords

• forest regeneration
• undergrowth
• seeds
• seed measuring device
• coal mine dumps