Plant growth problems in colliery spoil reclamation— a review

The extensive distribution and intrusive nature of colliery spoil heaps resulting from deep coalmining in Britain are introduced. With a view to reclamation, the severity of coal spoil as a potential medium for plant growth is demonstrated and a thorough review of the literature on physical, chemical and biological constraints to vegetation establishment is presented. Problems of toxicity resulting from the weathering of pyrites and the marked spatial and temporal variations in toxicities and nutrient deficiencies in colliery shales are emphasized. Methods for sampling and analysing coal spoil are reviewed and reclamation and after-use techniques are summarized. Although most research on this subject has been completed by applied ecologists and biologists, the relevance and interest of the topic to biogeographers should not be overlooked.