Spontaneous revegetation vs. forestry reclamation in post-mining sand pits

Abstract

Vegetation development of sites restored by two different methods, spontaneous revegetation and forestry reclamation, was compared in four sand pit mining complexes located in the southern part of the Czech Republic, central Europe. The space-for-time substitution method was applied to collect vegetation records in 13 differently aged and sufficiently large sites with known history. The restoration method, age (time since site abandonment/reclamation), groundwater table, slope, and aspect in all sampled plots were recorded in addition to the visual estimation of percentage cover of all present vascular plant species. Multivariate methods and GLM were used for the data elaboration. Restoration method was the major factor influencing species pattern. Both spontaneously revegetated and forestry reclaimed sites developed towards forest on a comparable timescale. Although the sites did not significantly differ in species richness (160 species in spontaneously revegetated vs. 111 in forestry reclaimed sites), spontaneously revegetated sites tended to be more diverse with more species of conservation potential (10 Red List species in spontaneous sites vs. 4 Red List species in forestry reclaimed sites). These results support the use of spontaneous revegetation as an effective and low-cost method of sand pit restoration and may contribute to implementation of this method in practice.

Appendix

List of full species names used in Fig. 1: Acer platanoides L., Agrostis capillaris L., Alnus glutinosa (L.) Gaertn., Avenella flexuosa (L.) Drejer, Betula pendula Roth, Betula pubescens Ehrh., Calamagrostis epigejos (L.) Roth, Calamagrostis villosa (Chaix) J. F. Gmel., Calluna vulgaris (L.) Hull, Carex brizoides L., Carex hirta L., Carex leporina L., Conyza canadensis (L.) Cronquist, Cytisus scoparius (L.) Link, Deschampsia cespitosa (L.) P. Beauv., Digitaria ischaemum (Schreb.) Muhl., Epilobium angustifolium L., Filago minima (Sm.) Pers., Frangula alnus Mill., Hypochaeris radicata L., Juncus effusus L., Lysimachia vulgaris L., Melampyrum pratense L., Molinia caerulea (L.) Moench, Phalaris arundinacea L., Picea abies (L.) H. Karst., Pilosella officinarum Vaill., Pinus sylvestris L., Populus tremula L., Quercus robur L., Quercus rubra L., Rubus fruticosus agg., Salix caprea L., Salix cinerea L., Sorbus aucuparia L., Tanacetum vulgare L., Tussilago farfara L., Vaccinium myrtillus L., Vaccinium vitis-idaea L., Veronica officinalis L.