Investigation of the environmental and economic damages of Sang Darka-Amol coal mine to the soil, understory vegetation, and forest trees

Kartoolinejad, Davoud; Bashiri, Hasan; Rahimi, Mohammad

doi:10.22111/jneh.2024.48099.2030

Investigation of the environmental and economic damages of Sang Darka-Amol coal mine to the soil, understory vegetation, and forest trees

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

¹ Assistant Professor of Arid-land Forestry, Faculty of Desert Studies, Semnan University, Iran

² MSc graduate student of Forest Science, Faculty of Desert Studies, Semnan University, Iran

³ Professor of Climatology, Faculty of Desert Studies, Semnan University, Iran

10.22111/jneh.2024.48099.2030

Abstract

Coal mining in any part of the world has always caused great damage to the landscapes, nature, and biological communities of fauna and flora. The current study was carried out to investigate the environmental and economic damages caused by the activity of the Sang Darka Amol coal mine. To record the characteristics of the trees outside the mining area, transects were laid in four main geographical directions, and 1000 square meter circular plots were measured on them at distances of 50, 100, 150, 200, and 250 meters and compared with control samples. To quantify the understory vegetation biodiversity indices, 3 square plots of 1.5 x 1.5 meters were measured in each of the 5 distances and compared with the control sample plots. The results showed that the biodiversity and richness indices of understory vegetation at distances of 50, 100, and 150 meters from the edge of the mine were more diminished than at distances of 200 and 250 meters. The abundance, basal area, and commercial value of the standing trees at distances of 50 and 100 meters from the edge of the mine had the lowest values. Due to the presence of the main species and the higher successional state of the forest at distances of 250 m and more, the biodiversity of herbaceous species and the density and composition of forest trees had been improved. In 50 and 100 m of the mine, light-demanding and opportunistic herbaceous species such as raspberry, sedge, bracken, and nettles were observed due to increased light intensity. They decreased tree canopy density while moving away from the mine margin shade-tolerant herbaceous species such as wavyleaf basketgrass, sweet violet, wood spurge, purple cyclamen, and even primrose became more dominant due to increased tree canopy density and percentage. According to the amount of soil excavation, the amount of economic damage caused by the mine activities along the 1.7 km road and the width of 50 m (area 8.5 hectares) was equal to 1.989.960.000 Rials. The economic damage caused by the complete removal of 1700 forest trees in the mentioned area was calculated to be 6,960,000,000 Rials. The total damages of soil destruction and forest tree removal in this mine were estimated at 8,919,960,000 rials. Based on the results, it is suggested to adopt a new approach to the non-issuance of exploitation licenses for low-yield mines in the forest with very high value of landscape, biodiversity, and recreation, such as the Hyrcanian forests, and the needed coal of the country be provided from the mineral reserves of the provinces located outside the Hyrcanian forests.

Keywords

Main Subjects

Environmental Contamination

References

References (in Persian)

Ahmadi, Z., Kartoolinejad, D., Molashahi, M., Shayanmehr, M. (2018). Effect of fire on the diversity and trophic levels of soil fauna in Hyrcanian forests after 5 years (case study: Galandroud forest). Environmental Sciences, 16(3), 135-152. https://envs.sbu.ac.ir/article_97958.html?lang=en [In Persian]

Beshiri, H., Kartooulinejad, D., Moafi, M., Rahimi, M. (2017). Evaluation of economic and environmental damages to land forest and vegetation in coal mining (case study: coal mine of SangDarka-Amol). Master's thesis in Sivicultural and Forest Ecology, Semnan University, 87 p.. [In Persian]

Jafari, F., Kartoolinejad, D., Amiri, M., Shayanmehr, M., Akbarian, M. (2017). Long-term effect of oil mulch on richness and biodiversity of soil macro-fauna and vegetation in Jask, Iran. Journal of Arid Biome, 7(1), 27-38. DOI: 10.29252/ARIDBIOM.7.1.27 [In Persian]

References (in English)

Ahirwal, J., Maiti, S. K. (2016). Assessment of soil properties of different land uses generated due to surface coal mining activities in tropical Sal (Shorea robusta) forest, India. Catena, 140, 155-163. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2016.01.028

Chabukdhara, M., Singh, O. P. (2016). Coal mining in northeast India: an overview of environmental issues and treatment approaches. International Journal of Coal Science & Technology, 3, 87-96. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40789-016-0126-1

Donggan, G., Zhongke, B., Tieliang, S., Hongbo, S., Wen, Q. (2011). Impacts of coal mining on the aboveground vegetation and soil quality: a case study of Qinxin coal mine in Shanxi Province, China. Clean–Soil, Air Water, 39(3), 219-225. https://doi.org/10.1002/clen.201000236

Eghrari, S., Ravanbakhsh, H., Shirvany, A., Kartoolinejad, D. (2023). The effect of understory shrub species on the natural regeneration of Hyrcanian mixed broad-leaved forests (Kheyrud, Iran). Iranian Journal of Forest, 15(1), 1-10. https://www.ijf-isaforestry.ir/article_163432_en.html?lang=fa

Fatah, L. (2008). The impacts of coal mining on the economy and environment of South Kalimantan Province, Indonesia. ASEAN economic bulletin, 85-98. https://www.jstor.org/stable/41231497

Finkelman, R. B., Wolfe, A., Hendryx, M. S. (2021). The future environmental and health impacts of coal. Energy Geoscience, 2(2), 99-112. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engeos.2020.11.001

Goswami, S. (2015). Impact of coal mining on environment. European Researcher, (3), 185-196.

Huang, Y., Tian, F., Wang, Y., Wang, M., Hu, Z. (2015). Effect of coal mining on vegetation disturbance and associated carbon loss. Environmental Earth Sciences, 73, 2329-2342. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-014-3584-z

Khodaverdi, S., Amiri, M., Kartoolinejad, D., Mohammadi, J. (2019). Canopy gaps characteristics of pure and mixed stands in the Hyrcanian forests of north Iran. Annals of Silvicultural Research, 43(2), 62-70. https://doi.org/10.12899/asr-1882

Kompała-Bąba, A., Sierka, E., Dyderski, M. K., Bierza, W., Magurno, F., Besenyei, L., ... Woźniak, G. (2020). Do the dominant plant species impact the substrate and vegetation composition of post-coal mining spoil heaps? Ecological Engineering, 143, 105685. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoleng.2019.105685

Li, H., Chen, W., Zhang, C., Liang, H. (2024). Coupling relationship between soil properties and plant diversity under different ecological restoration patterns in the abandoned coal mine area of southern China. EGUsphere, 2024, 1-41. https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-305

Milder, A. I., Fernández‐Santos, B., Martínez‐Ruiz, C. (2013). Colonization patterns of woody species on lands mined for coal in Spain: preliminary insights for forest expansion. Land Degradation & Development, 24(1), 39-46.

Mondal, S., Palit, D., Chattopadhyay, P. (2020). Impact of mining on tree diversity of the coal mining forest area at Raniganj coal field area of West Bengal, India. Ecology, Environment and Conservation, 26, 66-72.

Pandey, B., Agrawal, M., Singh, S. (2014). Coal mining activities change plant community structure due to air pollution and soil degradation. Ecotoxicology, 23, 1474-1483. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10646-014-1289-4

Sarma, K. and Barik, S. K. (2011). Coal mining impact on vegetation of the Nokrek Biosphere Reserve, Meghalaya, India. Biodiversity, 12(3), 154-164. https://doi.org/10.1080/14888386.2011.629779

Sarma, K., Kushwaha, S. P. S., Singh, K. J. (2010). Impact of coal mining on plant diversity and tree population structure in Jaintia Hills district of Meghalaya, North East India. New York Science Journal, 3(9), 79-85.

Semy, K., Singh, M. R. (2024). Changes in plant diversity and community attributes of coal mine-affected forest in relation to a community reserve forest of Nagaland, Northeast India. Tropical Ecology, 65(1), 16-25. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42965-023-00310-z

Sena, K. L., Yeager, K. M., Barton, C. D., Lhotka, J. M., Bond, W. E., Schindler, K. J. (2021). Development of mine soils in a chronosequence of forestry-reclaimed sites in eastern Kentucky. Minerals, 11(4), 422. https://doi.org/10.3390/min11040422

Thakur, T. K., Dutta, J., Upadhyay, P., Patel, D. K., Thakur, A., Kumar, M., Kumar, A. (2022). Assessment of land degradation and restoration in coal mines of central India: A time series analysis. Ecological Engineering, 175, 106493. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoleng.2021.106493

Vishwakarma, A. K., Behera, T., Rai, R., Sonkar, A. K., Singh, A. P., Shrivastva, B. K. (2020). Impact assessment of coal mining-induced subsidence on native soil of South Eastern Coal Fields: India. Geomechanics and Geophysics for Geo-Energy and Geo-Resources, 6, 1-21. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40948-020-00156-y

Vishwakarma, A. K., Rai, R., Sonkar, A. K., Behera, T., Shrivastva, B. K. (2020). Assessment of impacts of coal mining-induced subsidence on native flora and native forest land: A brief review. Sustainable Development Practices Using Geoinformatics, 141-152. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119687160.ch9

Xiao, W., Zhang, W., Ye, Y., Lv, X., Yang, W. (2020). Is underground coal mining causing land degradation and significantly damaging ecosystems in semi‐arid areas? A study from an Ecological Capital perspective. Land degradation & development, 31(15), 1969-1989. https://doi.org/10.1002/ldr.3570.