Hardwood seedling growth on different mine spoil types with and without topsoil amendment.

The goal of many owners of reclaimed mined land in the Appalachian region is to restore the diverse native hardwood forest for environmental, economic, and cultural reasons. However, native hardwoods often grow poorly on mined sites because they are planted in unsuitable spoils devoid of native topsoil. In a greenhouse experiment, we examined the suitability of four growth media available for use on many mined sites in the central Appalachians-forest topsoil (FT), weathered sandstone (WS), unweathered sandstone (US), and unweathered shale (UH)-as well as the effects of topsoil amendment (none vs.