The Effect of Alternative Soil Amendments on the Botanical Composition, Basal Cover, Dry Matter Production and Chemical Properties of Re-Vegetated Mine Land

Coal mining impacts large grassland areas of the Mpumalanga Province of South Africa. To mitigate such impacts, it is imperative to restore the once productive soils to the best possible condition. The revegetation of mine land presents a particular challenge. Soils being rehabilitated are often acidic and nutrientdeficient, which are major limiting factors in re-vegetation programmes. Conventional methods of liming and inorganic fertilisation have been used to improve the productivity of impacted soils. In the past few years the use of a coal combustion by-product, class F fly ash, and an organic material, such as sewage sludge, have demonstrated the feasibility of using such materials to amend acidic and infertile substrates (Truter, 2002; Norton et al., 1998). The objective of this research was to determine if alternative amendments can create a more sustainable system where botanical composition, basal cover, dry matter production and soil chemical properties can be improved