Chemizm pokopalnianej gleby sulfurozowej w doświadczeniu w warunkach kontrolowanych

Impact of organic matter on soil chemistry of former Jeziórko sulfur mine was investigated. In research two types of substrate were used: less contaminated (mean 5,090 mg kg-1 S) and high contaminated (42,500 mg kg-1S). Soil substrates were tested with addition of birch or pine litter. The composites (soil substrate + tree litter) were rinsed with water during 12 weeks of experiment. In the obtained leachate pH, EC, DOC (dissolved organic carbon), N, Ca, Mg and S were determined. The results indicate that the rate and amount of leached elements did not depend on litter, but firstly depend on level of sulfur contamination.Zbadano wpływ materii organicznej na chemizm gleby byłej kopalni siarki Jeziórko. W badaniach wykorzystano dwa rodzaje substratu: mniej zanieczyszczony (średnio 5090 mg kg-1 S) i wysoce zanieczyszczony (42 500 mg kg -1 S). Podłoża glebowe badano z dodatkiem ściółki brzozowej lub sosnowej. Kompozyty (podłoże gleby + ściółka drzewna) płukano wodą w ciągu 12 tygodni eksperymentu. Otrzymanym odcieku oznaczono EC, DOC (rozpuszczony węgiel organiczny), N, Ca, Mg i S. Wyniki wskazują, że szybkość i ilość wyługowanych pierwiastków nie zależą od ściółki, ale zależą od poziomu zanieczyszczenia siaką

Assessment of tree vitality, biomass and morphology of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) root systems growing on reclaimed landfill waste after zinc and lead flotation

The stability of introduced stands depends not only on aboveground but also on the belowground biomass. Results from reclaimed sites often indicate good growth of the aboveground part of stands, but data on the development of root systems are still lacking. Our aim was to assess the vitality of trees, their biomass and the morphology of the root systems of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) introduced on reclaimed landfill waste after zinc and lead flotation in Bukowno (southern Poland). The landfill site was reclaimed 20 years ago and reclamation treatments involved isolation and covering with mineral substrate layers (110–150 cm thickness) which formed a technogenic soil profile. Four research plots (10×10m) were set up in pure pine stands where soil profiles consisted entirely of flotation waste. Trees on the plots were assayed according to the Kraft and IUFRO classification system. In total, 15 trees of average growth parameters and bio-sociological position (I and II Kraft class) were selected for biomass and root system analyses and the root systems were excavated, washed, measured, weighed and photographed. Our results support pine as a useful species in reforestation of post-mining areas. However, although pine trees were characterized by good vitality, their root systems were shallow and their depth reduced by up to 60 cm due to strong skeletal loamy substrate. Individual root biomass ranged from 1.2 to 9.1 kg and was comparable to pine root biomass on other reclaimed mining sites. This indicates that during restoration, the thickness of the substrate covering the flotation waste should be increased or the amount of skeletal substrate in the top layers of technosol reduced

Monitoring the spatial range of forested areas in the reclaimed sites using Sentinel-2 images

Presented research investigates the possibility of applying the newest, free available satellite images Sentinel−2 for the automation of land use/cover (LULC) mapping in reclaimed areas, mainly in the aspect of monitoring forested areas. The study was performed for the former sulphur mines: ‘Machów’ (871.7 ha of the dump area after the opencast strip mine) and ‘Jeziórko’ (216.5 ha of the afforested area after the borehole exploitation). These areas are characterized by a diverse terrain structure and vegetation cover as the result of reclamation. The applied directions of reclamation were agro−forestry for the Sulphur Mine ‘Machów’ and forestry for the Sulphur Mine ‘Jeziórko’. We verified whether processing of Sentinel−2 data allows for reliable LULC classification – mainly identification forested areas in relation to the LULC mapping prepared by manual vectorization of orthophotomaps. Obtained classification results for Sentinel−2 data were also compared to the results of Landsat 8 images processing. The results of Sentinel−2 images classification showed correct graphical representation of the LULC classes, especially forested areas, in the relation to the results of applied on−screen vectorization of aerial orthophotomaps – better than results of the Landsat 8 images processing. The area of the mail class ‘Forests’ as a result of classification Sentinel−2 and Landsat 8 images compared to the results of manual on−screen vectorization of the orthophomaps shows differences: 5.4% – Sentinel−2, 12.8% – Landsat 8 for Sulphur Mine ‘Machów’ and 1.8% – Sentinel−2, 8.8% – Landsat 8 for Sulphur Mine ‘Jeziórko’. Research indicates the possibility of automation of LULC classification using Sentinel−2 images. It could be very useful for LULC changes monitoring in reclaimed areas, mainly in the aspect of forested areas mapping as a result of way of reclamation