Soil Organic Carbon and Total Nitrogen data of the heap

Description

The study was conducted in southern Poland at the Sośnica hard coal post-mine spoil heap (50⁰ 16' 22" N, 18⁰ 44' 43" E) in Gliwice and Zabrze, Upper Silesian Coal Basin. Samples from the organic (Oi+Oe) and uppermost mineral horizons (0–10 cm depth, A horizon) were collected from each plot in October 2021. A composite soil sample for each plot was collected from five subsamples (4 points at the corners and one in the middle of each plot).

Steps to reproduce

The sample sites included nine combinations of vegetation types and reclamation technologies based on land monitoring, documentation, and remote data sensing. Additionally, research plots were established on the adjacent barren rock to calculate SOC under spontaneous succession on mine spoil heaps. In total, 130 research 10 × 10 m research plots were randomly established on the identified experimental patches of the spoil heap, representing ten replications of each variant for spontaneous succession (forbland, grassland, and woodlands resulting from succession on barren rock and after topsoiling) and ten replications of each variant for active reclamation (forbland planted with Lupinus polyphyllus and Melilotus alba, grassland planted with Festuca rubra and Arrhenatherum elatius, and woodland planted with Robinia pseudoacacia and a mixture of species including Betula pendula, Alnus glutinosa, and Larix decidua, after reclamation by topsoiling) based on their dominance and area coverage. On the barren rock, ten replications were established Samples from the organic (Oi+Oe) and uppermost mineral horizons (0–10 cm depth, A horizon) were collected from each plot in October 2021. A composite soil sample for each plot was collected from five subsamples (4 points at the corners and one in the middle of each plot). For the bulk density (BD) calculation, two independent samples of 0–10 cm depth per plot were taken from the center with intact structures via collection in 100-cm3 cylinders. The litter layer (Oi+Oe) samples were collected from five 20 × 20 cm squares in each plot.

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