Assessment of factors determining the rate and direction of plant communities development on coal mining spoils (the case study of the Gorlovskoye anthracite deposit)

Abstract

The aim of the study. Identification and assessment of specific succession processes on self-revegetating coal mining spoils of the Gorlovskoye anthracite deposit, as related to the abiotic factors.

Location and time of the study. The coal mining spoils of the Gorlovskoye anthracite deposit (54.568880 NL, 83.588956 EL), Novosibirsk region, Iskitimsky district, June 2023.

Methods. The properties of soil substrates in technogenic landscapes were determined by officially attested  and widely used methods of soil analyses. In field conditions, soil hardness was measured with a penetrometer, then soil density was calculated from its values ​​using the dependence function. Total carbon and nitrogen contents were determined using a Perkin Elmer 2400 Series II CHNS/O analyzer. Statistical processing of the data was carried out using cluster, principal components and Spearman's correlation analyses.

Results. In the anthracite coal mining spoils in the forest-steppe conditions of West Siberia, the high content of physical clay and clay-producing rocks in the developing soils promotes predominantly herbaceous plant groups, whereas slope areas with a high content of stones benefits the growth of woody vegetation.