Carbon Sequestration on Surface Mine Lands

The first quarter of 2004 was dedicated to tree planting activities in two locations in Kentucky. During the first year of this project there was not available mine land to plant in the Hazard area, so 107 acres were planted in the Martin County mine location. This year 120 acres were planted in the Hazard area to compensate for the prior year and an additional 57 acres were planted on Peabody properties in western Kentucky. Additional sets of special plots were established on each of these areas that contained 4800 seedlings each for carbon sequestration demonstrations. Plantings were also conducted to continue compaction and water quality studies on the newly established areas as well as continual measurements of the first year's plantings. Total plantings on this project now amount to 357 acres containing 245,960 seedlings. During the second quarter of this year monitoring systems were established for all the new research areas. Weather data pertinent to the research as well as hydrology and water quality monitoring continues to be conducted on all areas. Studies established to assess specific questions pertaining to carbon flux and the invasion of the vegetation by small mammals are being quantified. Experimental practices initiated with this research project will eventually allow for the planting on long steep slopes with loose grading systems and allow mountain top removal areas to be constructed with loose spoil with no grading of the final layers of rooting material when establishing trees for the final land use designation. Monitoring systems have been installed to measure treatment effects on both above and below ground carbon and nitrogen pools in the planting areas. Soil and tissue samples were collected from both years planting and analyses were conducted in the laboratory. Examination of decomposition and heterotropic respiration on carbon cycling in the reforestation plots continued during the reporting period. Entire planted trees were extracted from the study area to evaluate carbon accumulation as a function of time on the mine sites. These trees were extracted and separated into the following components: foliage, stems, branches, and roots. Each component was evaluated to determine the contribution of each to the total sequestration value. The fourth quarter of the year was devoted to analyzing the first two years tree planting activities and the evaluation of the results. These analyses included the species success at each of the sites and quantifying the data for future year determination of research levels. Additional detailed studies have been planned to further quantify total carbon storage accumulation on the study areas. At least 124 acres of new plantings will be established in 2005 to bring the total to 500 acres or more in the study area across the state of Kentucky