Soil chemical properties in an age series of restored mined land- A case study from Uttarakhand, India.

Present study was carried out in an ecorestored rock phosphate mine at Maldeota area of the Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India where ecorestoration measures were undertaken in 15 hectare mine soil area during the year 1982 by Forest Research Institute in collaboration with Pyrites Phosphate Chemical Limited (PPCL). The objective was to understand chemical changes, which took place in an age series of 23, 22, 21 and 20 years old mine restored sites rock phosphate mine and an adjoining natural forest was also studied for comparison of soil chemical properties. All the data was analyzed by using the Statistical Package for Social Science Program for Windows version 15.0. Multiple comparison and two way analysis of variance (ANOVA) procedures were used to compare differences among samples. The Least Significant Difference (LSD) test was performed to determine the significant differences among sample means at p < 0.05. Increase in all the nutrients has been observed during the study period. A significant difference (p < 0.05, p < 0.01, p < 0.001) has been recorded on an average in the amount of nutrient (kg ha-1). As the mining of minerals leaves behind the overburden dumps and infertile soil, the restoration efforts help in regaining the biodiversity and ecosystem services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]