Surface mining for coal in the Appalachian region has removed over 0.6 million Ha of mixed mesophytic forest. Successful reforestation would be beneficial, but questions remain concerning application of reclamation and reforestation methods on operational scales. Four experiments were performed testing these methods on newly reclaimed and previously reclaimed, but unused, former mines. On newly reclaimed sites, loose grading during reclamation reduced erosion and increased plant community diversity compared to smooth grading. Seeding only annual ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum) for erosion control, along with tree planting, increased plant community diversity and improved survival and growth of hybrid American chestnut (Castanea dentata x Castanea mollissima), compared to conventional seeding. Surface water infiltration was positively correlated with herbaceous ground cover. On older mines, subsoil ripping to alleviate compaction improved tree survival and growth, in some cases, after five growing seasons. Of the three species groups planted, including Eastern white pine (Pinus strobus), mixed native hardwoods had the best survival and hybrid poplar (Populus deltoides x Populus trichocarpa) produced the most biomass. Hybrid American chestnuts survived and grew better when planted as bare-root seedlings than when planted as ungerminated nuts in tree tubes, demonstrating the potential for planting bare-root chestnut seedlings along with other species when reforesting reclaimed surface mines. This can aid in restoring American chestnut, functionally extinct since the blight (Cryphonectria parasitica), to its former range. These cultural practices can be employed to accelerate reforestation of mined lands, but many questions remain about their capability to fully restore ecosystem structure and processes. / Master of Science

Prescribed fire has become a management tool utilized to restore or maintain the ecology of the mixed hardwoods ecosystem in the Ozark hills of southwestern Illinois. One effect of prescribed burning is consumption of fuel beds, including the litter layer that protects soil from erosion. Amount of sediment loss after prescribed burning in the steep topography of the Ozark hills is unknown. Erosion after prescribed burning could lead to increased soil loss and possibly stream sedimentation (Bladon etal., 2014). The objective of this research was to quantify the amount of sediment transport occurring on a watershed scale. Sediment yields were measured from five paired watersheds located in Trail of Tears State Forest in Union County, IL, USA from April 2009 into 2010. This location was selected because of the highly erodible loess soils and steeps slopes which present the highest probability of sediment transport following a prescribed burn treatment. One of the paired watersheds was randomly assigned as the control and the other assigned as the treatment. The treatment was a prescribed burn applied at standard burn prescription levels. Sediment loads were determined by collecting samples from a known volume of overland flow held in storage tanks below each watershed after rain events which produced runoff. The prescribed burn treatment significantly reduced the litter depth with 12.6%–31.5% litter remaining in the prescribed burn treatment watersheds. When data were combined across all watersheds, no significant differences were obtained between burn treatment and control watershed for total suspended solids and sediment concentrations or loads. The annual sediment losses varied between 1.41 to 90.54 kg·ha-1·year-1 in the four prescribed burn watersheds and 0.81 to 2.54 kg·ha-1·year-1 in the four control watersheds. Prescribed burn watershed 7 showed an average depth of soil loss of 4.2 mm, whereas control watershed 8 showed an average accumulation of sediments (9.9 mm), possibly due to steeper slopes. Prescribed burning did not cause a significant increase in soil erosion and sediment loss and can be considered acceptable in managing mixed hardwood forests of Ozark uplands and the Shawnee Hills physiographic regions of southern Illinois.

The effects of seven silvicultural prescriptions were examined one full growing season post-treatment on five sites in the Ridge and Valley, Cumberland Plateau, and Allegheny Plateau of Virginia and West Virginia. Prescriptions were (1) control, (2) understory control with herbicide, (3) group selection, (4) high-leave shelterwood, (5) low-leave shelterwood, (6) leave tree, and (7) clearcut. The effects of each treatment on the vascular plant community were characterized by changes in species diversity, species composition, exotic species richness, Raunkiaer's life-forms, and growth-forms. Pre-treatment, baseline data, and a randomized block design ensured the precision of post-treatment comparisons. High-disturbance treatments (i.e., low-leave shelterwood, leave tree, clearcut) exhibited lower tree-stratum species richness than unharvested treatments. Prescriptions had no effect on shrub-stratum richness. Compared to the control, woody, herb-stratum richness was higher in harvested treatments. Non-woody herb-stratum richness was unaffected. No differences in herb-stratum species diversity were detected using Shannon's (exp H') or Simpson's (1/D) indices. Non-woody species richness per 2-ha treatment plot was significantly higher than the control for high-disturbance treatments. Pre- vs. post-treatment species composition was least similar for high-disturbance treatments, as measured by qualitative and quantitative community similarity indices. Exotic woody species richness was unaffected by treatment; however, non-woody exotic species were more prevalent in high-disturbance treatments. Hemicrytophytes replaced phanerophytes as the most important life-form for harvested treatments. Therophytes were more important in harvested treatments, while the proportion of cryptophtes and chamaephytes did not change in response to treatments. Tree and shrub growth-forms were less dominant in harvested treatments, while graminoids and annual/biennial forbs were more important for high-disturbance treatments. These data represent only the initial results of a long-term study designed to examine plant-community response to silviculture for one harvest rotation length. Long-term results will aid in devising management strategies that address concerns for biodiversity without devaluing traditional resource demands. / Master of Science