The Potential for Using Wildflower Species to Increase Natural Habitat in Contour Surface Mine Reclamation

While non-native herbaceous species are commonly used for mine reclamation, these species have low wildlife and aesthetic value and may inhibit long-term succession.The goal of this study was to determine the suitability of wildflowers for surface mine reclamation in the Appalachian mountains.A seed mixture composed of native and naturalized wildflower species was compared to the standard revegetation mixture by testing greenhouse germination rates of all species in both mine spoils and potting soil and establishing field plots at reclamation sites in southwestern Virginia.In May 1993, two 9-m2 (97-ft2) plotswere seeded with each revegetation mixture on four slopes with different aspects.Vegetation cover and composition were recorded in all plots during the 1993 and 1994 field seasons.Wildflower species had germination rates ranging from 0-52%.In field studies, all but 2 of the 14 species of wildflowers seeded became established in study plots, while only 4 of the 8 species in the standard mixture were recorded.Cover was highly variable among plots on different aspects seeded with the same mixture.In most cases, total vegetative cover did not differ significantly between plots seeded with different mixtures.Some native and naturalized wildflower species appear to have potential for use in mine reclamation and could be included with standard revegetation mixtures in order to provide more native diversity.However, further research is necessary due to a number of factors confounding these results, including the low seeding rates used, drought conditions during the 1993 field season, and problems with regrowth of previous vegetation.