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Agronomy
Volume 14
Issue 8
10.3390/agronomy14081638
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Article

Borrow Pit Disposal of Coal Mining Byproducts Improves Soil Physicochemical Properties and Vegetation Succession

by
Jawdat Bakr
1,2,
Agnieszka Kompała-Bąba
2,
Wojciech Bierza
2,
Damian Chmura
3,
Agnieszka Hutniczak
2,*,
Jacek Kasztowski
2,
Bartosz Jendrzejek
2,
Adrian Zarychta
2 and
Gabriela Woźniak
2,*
1
Technical Institute of Bakrajo, Sulaimani Polytechnic University (SPU), Qrga Wrme Street-327/76, Sulaymaniyah 46001, Iraq
2
Institute of Biology, Biotechnology and Environmental Protection, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Silesia in Katowice, 28 Jagiellońska Str., 40-032 Katowice, Poland
3
Institute of Environmental Protection and Engineering, Faculty of Materials, Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Bielsko-Biala, 2 Willowa Str., 43-309 Bielsko-Biala, Poland
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Agronomy 2024, 14(8), 1638; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy14081638
Submission received: 26 June 2024 / Revised: 17 July 2024 / Accepted: 23 July 2024 / Published: 26 July 2024
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Functional Diversity of Soil Microbial Communities in Environments Shaped by Anthropogenic Activities)
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Abstract

The way of disposing of rock mineral material has a significant impact on subsequent spontaneous vegetation succession, soil properties, and respiration. We compared seven spontaneously vegetated samples from a large (2 km2) borrow pit used to dispose of the byproducts of a hard coal mine with seven plots from four coal mine spoil heap piles. We used BIOLOG EcoPlates to assess the microbial catabolic activity of the substrate. The substrate in the borrow pit was characterized by higher water content and lower temperature compared to the heap pile substrate. The borrow pit had a more diverse plant community structure. Higher Rao’s quadratic entropy, functional richness, and functional divergence were also calculated from plant functional traits in borrow pit samples. Although borrow pit samples showed higher total microbial biomass, bacteria/fungi ratio, and gram+/gram− ratio, and heap pile samples showed higher soil enzymatic activity, microbial functional diversity, and catabolic activity, these differences were not significant. Soil respiration from the borrow pit substrate was two folds higher. The borrow pit method of disposing of rock mineral material can be suggested to speed up spontaneous vegetation succession. This research provides new insights into the effects of burying hard coal byproducts in borrow pits and offers guidance for the management of hard coal mining.
Keywords: heap piles; novel ecosystems; taxonomic diversity; functional diversity; soil respiration; soil microbial properties; soil enzymatic activity heap piles; novel ecosystems; taxonomic diversity; functional diversity; soil respiration; soil microbial properties; soil enzymatic activity

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MDPI and ACS Style

Bakr, J.; Kompała-Bąba, A.; Bierza, W.; Chmura, D.; Hutniczak, A.; Kasztowski, J.; Jendrzejek, B.; Zarychta, A.; Woźniak, G. Borrow Pit Disposal of Coal Mining Byproducts Improves Soil Physicochemical Properties and Vegetation Succession. Agronomy 2024, 14, 1638. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy14081638

AMA Style

Bakr J, Kompała-Bąba A, Bierza W, Chmura D, Hutniczak A, Kasztowski J, Jendrzejek B, Zarychta A, Woźniak G. Borrow Pit Disposal of Coal Mining Byproducts Improves Soil Physicochemical Properties and Vegetation Succession. Agronomy. 2024; 14(8):1638. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy14081638

Chicago/Turabian Style

Bakr, Jawdat, Agnieszka Kompała-Bąba, Wojciech Bierza, Damian Chmura, Agnieszka Hutniczak, Jacek Kasztowski, Bartosz Jendrzejek, Adrian Zarychta, and Gabriela Woźniak. 2024. "Borrow Pit Disposal of Coal Mining Byproducts Improves Soil Physicochemical Properties and Vegetation Succession" Agronomy 14, no. 8: 1638. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy14081638

APA Style

Bakr, J., Kompała-Bąba, A., Bierza, W., Chmura, D., Hutniczak, A., Kasztowski, J., Jendrzejek, B., Zarychta, A., & Woźniak, G. (2024). Borrow Pit Disposal of Coal Mining Byproducts Improves Soil Physicochemical Properties and Vegetation Succession. Agronomy, 14(8), 1638. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy14081638

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