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from Part II - Succession by Disturbance Type
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 08 May 2020
Mining is an entirely anthropogenic activity that typically removes all biological legacy and therefore initiates a clear example of primary succession. Mines leave as severe a disturbance as do volcanoes, which are at the other end of our natural to anthropogenic disturbance gradient. We consider here succession both in sites where material is extracted (e.g., coal mines, rock quarries, sand and gravel pits) and in sites where material related to mining is deposited (e.g., spoil heaps, dumps, and slurry basins from coal or ore mining). We primarily focus on mine sites (henceforth including extraction and deposition sites) where spontaneous succession has occurred and not on mine sites that have had some anthropogenic amelioration (reclamation, i.e., the return of land to a ‘useful’ purpose; SER, 2004). Typical methods of mine reclamation include leveling the surface, spreading of organic material (including topsoil), the addition of lime (if needed to raise soil pH), and planting or sowing of plant species.
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