Skip to Main Content
 

Global Search Box

 
 
 
 

Files

File List


Ruggles_Thesis_FINAL.pdf (2.95 MB)

ETD Abstract Container

Abstract Header

Plant communities on reclaimed surface mines in Northeast Ohio: Effects of succession and nitrogen-fixing autumn olive

Ruggles, Thomas Alan
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1574681631819824

Abstract Details

2019, MS, Kent State University, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Biological Sciences.
Land managers across the Appalachian region have been dissatisfied with the progress of native temperate forest regeneration on surface mines reclaimed under Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA) protocols. These sites are commonly colonized by invasive plant species and have inadequate soils. Many of the nearly 50 former surface mines located within Cuyahoga Valley National Park (CVNP), Ohio, underwent reclamation following SMCRA protocols as an effort to restore native forest habitat, but park staff have also found succession to occur at a far slower rate than originally anticipated. While many studies have been conducted on acidic coal mines, reclaimed sites in CVNP were mined for non-coal resources and are alkaline. Here I investigated the plant communities and soil chemistry of reclaimed surface mines in CVNP to determine the implications of SMCRA protocols on the landscape on sites with alkaline soils. First, I analyzed how vegetative communities on reclaimed surface mines at CVNP changed over a 28-year chronosequence with particular regard to woody species and invasive species. Natural succession of sites was occurring slower than park staff anticipated, as the presence of woody species did not increase significantly over time. However, this did not appear to be a result of invasive plant colonization because exotic plant presence decreased over time, pointing toward inadequate soil conditions rather than interactions among the plant community withholding the growth of woody species. Results imply that SMCRA reclamation protocols do not improve site conditions sufficiently to facilitate natural succession as a tool to return native forests to mines within the timeframe envisioned by land managers. Second, I observed the effects of early colonization of woody nitrogen (N) fixing individuals on soil nutrient concentrations and vegetative communities at the mines. I compared an invasive N-fixing species, autumn olive (Elaeagnus umbellata), to several other shrub species, including the native N-fixer black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia) and other species that do not fix N. Both N-fixing species had considerably higher leaf tissue N content and surrounding soil N fixation potentials compared to other woody species, yet mineralized soil N and tissue N content of herbaceous species around N-fixers did not differ from non-fixers. This suggests that N-fixers release minimal fixed N through either secretion or tissue senescence during the early stages of colonization. Surprisingly, surrounding exotic and invasive herbaceous species were less commonly associated with N-fixers than non-N-fixers. These findings are contrary to what others have observed when studying denser patches of later-succession N-fixers, and provides evidence that woody, N-fixing species do not diminish native plant communities on reclaimed mine sites during early stages of colonization.
Chris Blackwood, Ph.D. (Advisor)
David Ward, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Oscar Rocha, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
100 p.
Ecology
natural succession; plant community composition; nitrogen fixation; reclaimed surface mine; reforestation; soil chemistry; Elaeagnus umbellata; Robinia pseudoacacia; invasive species

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Ruggles, T. A. (2019). Plant communities on reclaimed surface mines in Northeast Ohio: Effects of succession and nitrogen-fixing autumn olive [Master's thesis, Kent State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1574681631819824

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Ruggles, Thomas. Plant communities on reclaimed surface mines in Northeast Ohio: Effects of succession and nitrogen-fixing autumn olive. 2019. Kent State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1574681631819824.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Ruggles, Thomas. "Plant communities on reclaimed surface mines in Northeast Ohio: Effects of succession and nitrogen-fixing autumn olive." Master's thesis, Kent State University, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1574681631819824

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

kent1574681631819824
337
© 2019, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Kent State University and OhioLINK.