Christopher D. Barton

TL;DR: Reclamation of coal mines using the FRA is expected to restore these lands’ capabilities to provide forest-based ecosystem services, such as wood production, atmospheric carbon sequestration, wildlife habitat, watershed protection, and water quality protection to a greater extent than conventional reclamation practices.

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated organic carbon (SOC) quality in paired hardwood and pine stands growing in coarse textured soils located along a 221C gradient in MAT and found that both SOC quantity and quality decreased with increasing MAT.

TL;DR: In this paper, the structure and function of natural and constructed stream channels in forested and MTR/VF catchments across ephemeral, intermittent, and perennial flow regimes were compared.

TL;DR: The use of salvaged native soils for mine soil construction when forest ecosystem restoration is the reclamation goal has been studied in this article, and it is shown that weathered rock spoils are generally superior to unweathered coal spoils when constructing mine soils for this purpose.

TL;DR: In the forested Appalachian region, disturbances from storms, fire, logging, or mining can disrupt or destroy established forests as discussed by the authors, and natural processes that lead to restoration of the forest vegetation after such a disturbance usually begin quickly and result in development of another forest.