Restoration of vegetation cover in reclaimed areas with coal preparation waste in Kuzbass

Abstract

The paper presents the results of research and assessment of the degree of restoration of vegetation cover in reclaimed areas with the use of coal preparation waste in Kuzbass. Reclamation of disturbed lands was carried out by backfilling the depleted pits of the former coal mine with coal preparation waste and forming a root layer on the leveled surface of the waste using materials of the fertile soil layer (FSL) and potentially fertile rocks (PFR). During the field survey of reclamation sites, it was found that when sowing perennial grasses (Bromopsis inermis, Medicago sativa, etc.) or planting trees and shrubs (Hippophae rhamnoides, Pinus sylvestris, etc.) on the root layer formed of FSL and/or PFR, favorable conditions are created in the reclaimed areas for the formation of the primary phytocenosis. Studies have also shown that in reclaimed areas where a fertile soil layer was used to form a root layer, a gradual restoration of soil properties is recorded in the surface fill layers, which in some parameters are close to natural soils common in the adjacent territories.