Topsoil is a valuable resource, the only one capable of supporting vegetation development. The soil covering of the earth is called the pedosphere and is formed by the interaction between the other spheres: atmosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere. Human actions produce minor to major changes in soil balance and can even cause its irreversible loss. In mining areas, as a result of the discovery of the deposit and the construction of waste dumps, extensive areas of degraded land appear, on which only the waste materials from the cover and intercalations are found, which lack the essential property of soil, namely fertility. These materials constitute the anthropogenic protosols, undeveloped soils in terms of the physical, chemical, biological, and pedological properties that define them. On anthropogenic soils in the early stages of their formation as fertile soil, it is necessary to apply some amendments to support the growth and development of vegetation and, in addition, it is recommended to establish so-called green crops to be incorporated into the soil as green fertilizers. Several plants are recommended as green fertilizers, which also have an ameliorative role, such as clover, grass, alfalfa, peas, etc. The research aimed to follow the development of different plant species on soil substitutes consisting of sterile material from the dumps and mixtures of sterile material, compost, cow manure, and fertilizers. Experiments were carried out in vegetation pots and were closely monitored from seeding to harvesting. For the rapid estimation of the population size for herbaceous plants, the method of squares using the DAFOR scale was applied. Also, a new method was proposed to estimate the degree/index of coverage of land surfaces by plants that can be easily applied at any time during the experiments.

sterile dumps, anthropogenic soils, plant development, monitoring, methods

environmental engineering

Presentation: poster