Journal of Range and Watershed Managment

Presence of rangeland plant species in the seed bank of coal waste and surrounding rangelands in Karmozd-Savad kouh and Kiasar-Sari coal mines in Mazandaran province

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

Reza Namjooyan 1
Jamshid Ghorbani
Ghodrat alah heydari 2
Ghorban Vahab Zade 3

1 PhD student in Rangeland science, Faculty of natural resources, Sari Agricultural and Natural Resources University

2 rangeland management, faculty of natural resources, sari agricultural and natural resources

3 Watershed management department, Faculty of natural resources, Sari agricultural and natural resources university

https://doi.org/10.22059/jrwm.2019.286711.1406
Abstract
Activities related to the extraction of minerals are one of the factors causing a disturbance in rangelands. Vegetation succession in mining areas depends on the soil seed bank. For this purpose, the soil seed bank was studied in two important coal extraction sites in Mazandaran province to identify and compare seed amount between coal wastes and nearby rangeland as control. Soil and coal wastes samples were taken from 140 plots of 1 m2 in Kiasar coal mine and 115 plots in Karmozd coal mine before the growth season. Samples were kept in a glasshouse for eight months germinated seeds were counted. Results of this study showed that the germination of 28 species in Kiasar and 23 species in Karmozd. 10 and 6 species only presented in Karmozd and Kiasar coal waste, respectively. Annuals dominated the coal waste seed bank in Kiasar while perennials were common in Karmazd coal waste seed bank. In Kiasar, coal waste seed bank had less diversity and richness than that in seed bank of rangelands, but no significant differences were observed between seed bank of coal waste and seed bank of rangeland in Karmozd. Due to the harsh conditions of seed germination and seedling establishment and also low seed density in the seed bank, natural regeneration in coal wastes of these two sites will be a slow process and it needs amendment treatments and the introduction of target plants seeds.

Keywords

Succession
mine reclamation
diversity and richness
soil pollution
seed germination
Journal of Range and Watershed Managment
Volume 72, Issue 2
Summer 2019
Pages 587-596

  • Receive Date 04 August 2019
  • Revise Date 01 October 2019
  • Accept Date 01 September 2019
  • Publish Date 23 August 2019

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