Flora of spoil heaps after hard coal mining in Trzebinia (southern Poland): effect of substratum properties

The aim of the present study was to investigate the composition of spontaneousplant cover and the physicochemical properties of the substratum of spoil heaps of theSiersza hard coal mine in Trzebinia (southern Poland) abandoned in 2001. Floristic andsoil analyses were performed in 2011. The substratum was very diverse in terms of texture(sand: 55–92 %, clay: 6–38 %), nutrient content (total C: 1.3–41.0 %, total N: 0.05–0.49 %,total Ca: 0.5–7.3 %) and pH (3.7–8.7). Moreover, total thallium concentration in the substratumwas high, ranging from 6.0 to 14.6 mg kg–1. Plant cover varied from 50 to 95 %.The number of plant species per 4m2 varied from 6 to 29 and correlated negatively with totalcarbon content (r = –0.85, p < 0.01), and positively with sand content in the substratum(r = 66, p < 0.05). The highest number of species per area unit was observed on a humussubstratum, where initial soil has developed on the part of carboniferous waste rock spoilunder 20–30 year old trees, and the lowest on carbon shale with coal and culm. Among 197plant species, most belong to Asteraceae, Fabaceae, Poaceae and Rosaceae families.Hemicryptophytes (49%) and terophytes (18%) predominated. The investigated area wasprimarily colonized by native species spread by the wind. However, invasive alien speciesalso had a significant share (8%) in the plant cover

Brachypodium pinnatum-Halbtrockenrasen auf Zn/Pb-Bergbauhalden in West-Małopolska (Südpolen): Zusammenhänge zwischen Vegetationseigenschaften und Umweltbedingungen

This study describes the vascular flora and community structure of grasslands occurring on heaps of waste rock left by former Zn-Pb mining in relation to the metal content in the soil and other environmental factors. The study was performed on 65 heaps scattered in agricultural land in southern Poland. The sites were described in terms of plant community characteristics, soil physicochemical properties, distance from woodland, altitude and local climate. The number of plant species and proportion of species of the Festuco-Brometea class decreased with increasing heavy metal (Cd, Pb, Zn) content in the soil, and increased with Ca content and pH of the soil. There was a negative relationship between the proportion of the later successional species and heavy metal content in the soil and a positive relationship between plants connected with the earlier stages of succession and metals. Floristic composition was also affected by distance from woodland and height above sea level. The investigated heaps were primarily colonised by native species dispersed by wind, characterised as competitive stresstolerant, ruderal and competitive strategy species. Three types of Carlino acaulis-Brometum erecti (CB) communities were distinguished: CB typicum – dominated by Brachypodium pinnatum, with the highest proportion of calcareous grassland species, CB festucetosum ovinae subass. nova – loose grassland with abundant facultative metallophytes, and the CB rubietosum caesi subass. nova with nutrientdemanding ruderal and woody plants invading from the nearby forest communities. The three subassociations represent different successional stages of Carlino acaulis-Brometum erecti, strongly dependent on both the substrate and spatial relations. The proportions of species traits, especially a high occurrence of endangered species and a very low proportion of alien species show that the post-mining habitats studied have a similar degree of ‘naturalness’ as valuable xerothermic grasslands on nonmetalliferous habitats. They thus may be considered as valuable objects for the protection of plant diversity.In der Małopolska-Region im Südpolen (schlesisch-krakauischen Hochland) finden sich vielerorts Reste des einstigen Zink/Blei-Bergbaus. In der Agrarlandschaft existieren zerstreut kleine Abraumhalden mit hohen Schwermetallgehalten im Boden: 5–522 mg Cadmium (Cd) kg–1, 0,1–23 g Blei (Pb) kg–1, 6–51 mg Talkum (Tl) kg–1 und 0,4–70 g Zink (Zn) kg–1 (STEFANOWICZ et al. 2014). In einer früheren Studie (WOCH et al. 2016) waren die auf den Halden wachsenden Kalk-Halbtrockenrasen als verarmte Festuca ovina-Variante des Carlino acaulis-Brometum erecti (im Folgenden CBF) beschrieben worden. Zudem existieren relativ weit von Wäldern entfernt eine typische Ausbildung der Assoziation (CB) mit zahlreichen Arten der Kalkmagerrasen auf Böden mit niedrigen bis moderaten Schwermetallkonzentrationen und in der Nähe von Wäldern eine Rubus caesius-Ausbildung (CBR) mit Holz- und Ruderal-Pflanzenarten (WOCH et al. 2016). Ziele der vorliegenden Studie waren (1) die Analyse der Flora der alten Halden, (2) die Einschätzung des Einflusses von Bodeneigenschaften und der Entfernung der Halden vom nächsten Wald sowie der Meereshöhe auf die Vegetation, (3) die Identifikation besonders schwermetalltoleranter und -intoleranter Pflanzenarten, und (4) die pflanzensoziologische Einordnung der Rasen auf den Zn/Pb-Bergbauhalden in West-Małopolska

Is there a link between biodiversity of plants and soil microorganisms?

"Biodiversity" became one of the most popular ecological terms all over the world and is defined as “the variability among living organisms from all sources including [...] terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part: this includes diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems”. Despite popularity of the term “biodiversity” and potential importance of diversity for ecosystem functioning the state of our knowledge on biodiversity is far from being satisfactory due to complexity of biological interactions and ethodological problems. Soil microorganisms and plants are the most important contributors to the processes of matter turnover and energy flow, as plants are main producers of biomass and soil microorganisms are main decomposers of organic matter. Many authors noted a positive relationship between diversity of plant and microbial communities in both rhizosphere and bulk soil in various ecosystem types. However, the relationship may depend on the plant group of concern i.e. herbaceous plants, ferns, trees etc. On the other hand, plants possessing specific traits such as nitrogen-fixing legumes may particularly support microbial performance. Because of both positive and negative strong interactions between microorganisms and plants and due to the fact that decrease in plant or microbial diversity may potentially lead to deterioration of crucial ecosystem functions, understanding and protection of biological diversity is of primary importance. Further research is needed to gain a profound insight into interactions between plant and soil microbial communities in both natural or semi-natural or anthropogenically transformed ecosystems