[01] Arvind Singh, Department of Botany, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India.

A study was conducted to assess the growth performance of eight native tropical tree species planted on a coal mine spoil on Singrauli Coalfields, India. Of all the investigated tree species Acacia catechu, Albizia lebbeck, Dalbergia sissoo and Millettia pinnata were represented by the leguminous species while Azadirachta indica, Gmelina arborea, Tectona grandis and Terminalia bellerica were represented by the non-leguminous species. The overall performance of the leguminous tree species was greater than the non-leguminous tree species. Among all the studied tree species, the leguminous Albizia lebbeck was the best performing species while the non-leguminous Terminalia bellerica was the poorest performing tree species on coal mine spoil. Gmelina arborea and Azadirachta indica were the best performing tree species among the non-leguminous species.

Coal Mine Spoil, Growth Performance, Singrauli Coalfields

[01] Wali, M. K. (1975). Practices and Problems of Land reclamation in Western North America, University Grand Forks: North Dakota Press, pp.1-17. [02] Singh, J. S. and A. K. Jha (1993). Restoration of degraded land: An overview. In: J. S. Singh (ed.) Restoration of Degraded Land: Concepts and Strategies, Rastogi Publications, Meerut, India, pp.1-9. [03] Jha, A. K. and J. S. Singh (1991). Spoil characteristics and vegetation development of an age series of mine spoils in a dry tropical environment. Vegetatio 97: 63-76. [04] Jha, A. K. and J. S. Singh (1992). Influence of microsites on redevelopment of vegetation on coalmine spoils in dry tropical environment. Journal of Environmental Management 36: 95-116. [05] Jha, A. K. and J. S. Singh (1993). Growth performance of certain directly seeded plants on mine spoil in a dry tropical environment, India. Indian Forester 119: 920-927. [06] Bending, N. A. D. and A. J. Moffat (1999). Tree performance on minespoils in South Wales Coalfield. Journal of Applied Ecology 36: 784-797. [07] Singh, A. and J. S. Singh (2001). Comparative growth behavior and leaf nutrient status of native trees planted on mine spoil with and without nutrient amendment. Annals of Botany 87: 777-787. [08] Singh, A. (2006). Growth and leaf nutrient status of companion species as influenced by neighbouring species in mixed plantations raised on mine spoil. Tropical Ecology 47 (2): 259-269. [09] Singh, A. (2007). Performance of some planted fruit trees on coal mine spoil in Singrauli coalfields. Science and Culture 73 (5-6): 167-170. [10] Champion, H. G. and S. K. Seth (1968). A Revised Survey of Forest Types of India. Manager Publications, New Delhi, India. [11] Singh, A. (1999). Revegetation of Coal Mine Spoil: Influence of Nutrient Amendment and Neighbouring Species on Growth Performance and Foliar Nutrient Dynamics of Woody Species. Ph. D. Thesis, Banaras Hindu University, India. [12] Zavitkovski, J. and R. D. Stevens (1972). Primary Productivity of red alder ecosystems. Ecology 53: 235-242. [13] DeBell, D. S., C. D. Whitesell and T. H. Schubert (1989). Using N2 fixing Albizia to increase growth of Eucalyptus plantations in Hawaii. Forest Science 35: 64-75. [14] Singh, A., Jha, A. K. and Singh, J. S. (2000). Effect of nutrient enrichment on native tropical trees planted on Singrauli Coalfields, India. Restoration Ecology 8(1): 80-86.