The role of plants and soil properties in the enzyme activities of substrates on hard coal mine spoil heaps

�� 2021 The Authors. Published by Springer. This is an open access article available under a Creative Commons licence. The published version can be accessed at the following link on the publisher���s website: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-84673-0Knowledge about biotic (plant species diversity, biomass) and/or abiotic (physicochemical substrate parameters) factors that determine enzyme activity and functional diversity of the substrate on hard coal spoil heaps is limited. Spontaneously developed vegetation patches dominated by herbaceous species commonly occurring on��these spoil heaps: grasses (Poa compressa, Calamagrostis epigejos) and forbs (Daucus carota, Tussilago farfara), were examined. The activity of dehydrogenase and alkaline phosphatase was twice as high in plots dominated by grass species compared with those dominated by forbs. Significant positive correlations were found between the activity of dehydrogenase and alkaline phosphatase with pH, available P, soil moisture, and water holding capacity and negative correlations between the activity of urease and soil organic carbon. Strong positive correlations were found between values for Shannon���Wiener diversity index, evenness, species richness and soil functional diversity in plots dominated by grasses. We found that the soil physicochemical parameters had a greater impact on enzyme activity of the substrate than plant biomass and species diversity. However, grasses, through their extensive root system, more effectively increased enzyme activity and health of the substrate than other herbaceous species, and as they stabilize the substrate and form dense plant cover, they can be recommended for reclamation purposes.This study was funded by the InfoRevita project (TANGO1/268600/ NCBR/2015) financed by The National Centre for Research and Development in Poland.Accepted versio