Dr. Douglass F. Jacobs, Assistant Professor
Purdue University, Department of Forestry & Natural Resources, Hardwood Tree Improvement and Regeneration Center

Dr. Douglass Jacobs and his colleagues at Purdue University are studying how to improve hardwood seedling establishment success on reclamation sites by applying novel regeneration technologies. They have conducted two studies over the past few years, in the southeastern Indiana coal mining region.

    The first examined the potential for container stocktypes to serve as an alternative to traditional bareroot seedlings for reclamation, and they found evidence that this stock may reduce transplanting stress following outplanting.

    They are now engaged in an experiment to examine the practice of loading seedlings with high levels of nutrients during nursery culture that may then be retranslocated within the plant to facilitate field growth after transplant on low fertility reclamation sites. Reforestation technologies have improved dramatically over the past decade and they expect that reclamation will reap these benefits in the future.

For more information about surface mine reforestation research in Indiana, please contact:

Dr. Douglass F. Jacobs
Assistant Professor
Purdue University
Department of Forestry & Natural Resources
Hardwood Tree Improvement and Regeneration Center
West Lafayette, IN 47907-2061
Telephone: (765) 494-3608
Fax: (765) 494-9461
E-mail: djacobs@purdue.edu

Mr. Ron Rathfon, Extension Forester
Purdue University
Department of Forestry and Natural Resources

Mr. Ronald Rathfon and his colleagues at Purdue University have recently completed a study on the status of reforested mine sites in southwestern Indiana reclaimed from 1988 to 1995. No attempt had ever been made to track the long term progress of reforested mine sites in Indiana following reclamation bond release.

    The purpose of their survey was to determine how well reforested mine sites in Indiana were performing in terms of values and services normally ascribed to native forest and what their future potential might be. Black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia) was the most abundant species on 68% of the surveyed sites and accounted for 45% of all tallied trees and shrubs across all sites.

    Many black locust stands are currently experiencing decline and dieback caused, in part, by the locust borer. Forty percent of stands approached unmined planted tree height growth rates, while only 27% approached stem diameter growth rates of stands on unmined sites. Most reclaimed mine sites had measured site quality indices below the poorer quality sites in the region's native forests.

    Overall stocking in the establishment phase of stand development appeared adequate for future commercial timber production on many of the study sites. However, the dominance of black locust stocking in many stands limits their future viability for timber production. Tall fescue and sericia lespedeza along with naturally occurring goldenrod were the most common ground covers in surveyed tree plantings.

    With few exceptions the reclaimed mine sites in this study show very low levels of productivity for forest products and carbon sequestration relative to native forests of this region, even though stocking levels appeared to be adequate.

    This suggests that the current bond performance measurement of 450 trees/acre bears little relevance to long term forest productivity. The results of their survey should serve as a baseline to determine the extent to which recent and future changes in reclamation methods improve reforestation success while meeting the other mandates of Indiana's mining regulatory program.

For more information about surface mine reforestation research in Indiana, please contact:

Mr. Ron Rathfon
Extension Forester Purdue University
Department of Forestry and Natural Resources
12000 Purdue Farm Road
Dubois, Indiana 47527
Telephone: (812) 678-5049
Fax: (812) 678-5049
E-mail: ronr@purdue.edu