An Evaluation of 17 Grasses and 2 Legumes for Revegetation of Soil and Spoil on a Coal Strip Mine

Abstract

Seventeen grass species and two legumes were evaluated in a greenhouse study to determine their potential for revegetation of coal strip mine areas. Each species was grown in 25 cm of topsoil placed over 28 cm of mine-spoil or in 53 cm of spoil without topsoil. Herbage yields were seven times greater and root yields six times greater when the grasses were grown in topsoil than when grown in spoil without topsoil. When herbage production, root production, and crude protein were considered together and given equal weight, the five species with the highest combined ratings when grown in 25 cm of topsoil over spoil were tall fescue, hard fescue, Russian wildrye, western wheatgrass, and Arizona fescue. All grass species studied produced relatively low yields when grown in spoil without topsoil. Average herbage yields for the native and introduced grass species studied were similar, but introduced species averaged greater root production, particularly in spoil material. Two legumes, alfalfa and cicer milkvetch, produced much higher yields and higher crude protein than any of the grasses studied whether grown in topsoil over spoil or in spoil without topsoil.