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U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Pre- and postmine diversity revisited

Conference ·
OSTI ID:361676
 [1];  [2]
  1. New Mexico Mining and Minerals Div., Santa Fe, NM (United States)
  2. Forest Service, Burlington, VT (United States). Northeastern Forest Experiment Station
Baseline vegetation inventories from the premine condition contain information that can be used to develop seed mixes and to subsequently set reclamation standards. Such inventories are usually developed as premine floristic surveys and later as inventories conducted prior to mine expansion. Two species lists were compiled from the premine baseline and postmine inventories of the reclaimed acreages at eight surface coal mines in New Mexico. Plant species listed from premine inventories, seed mixes, and postmine inventories were categorized by life form, (tree, shrub, semi-shrub, grass, forb, succulent). These tabulations were then compared and examined for differences and commonalities. Sorensen`s and Jaccard`s indices (Magurran 1988) were also calculated from the premine inventories, seed mixes and postmine (reclamation) lists. The results of these comparisons suggest that premine species richness, species area relationships, richness and composition of seed mixes and subsequent reclamation practices influence postmine species richness.
OSTI ID:
361676
Report Number(s):
CONF-9805185--
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English