Chemical variation and vegetation distribution on a coal waste tip.
Abstract
Colliery waste on a regraded Scottish tip was classified as 'burnt' and 'unburnt', and the latter subdivided into 'pre-acid' or 'acid' on the basis of pH and extractable sulphate levels. Burnt material contained more extractable Al than unburnt material, but both burnt and unburnt material varied considerably in chemical properties. On unburnt pre-acid (pH > 4.0) and burnt areas, the frequency of Agrostis tenuis was 91 and 90%, resp., of Anthoxanthum odoratum was 14 and 0%, of Deschampsia caespitosa was 12 and 1%, and of Holcus lanatus was 36 and 42%.