Constructed wetlands are used extensively to mitigate surface runoff. While wetland treatment for nitrogen (N) has been comprehensively studied, a knowledge gap remains regarding the implications of other contaminants (e.g., pesticides, pharmaceuticals) on nitrate-N (NO3-N) removal. This study sought to fill that gap by determining the impact imidacloprid, caffeine, perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), atrazine, glyphosate, and sulfate (SO42-) have on NO3-N removal rates. The contaminants were determined based on their occurrence across Kentucky surface waters in urban (imidacloprid, caffeine, and PFOS) and rural (atrazine, glyphosate, and SO42-) environments. Two constructed wetland designs, floating treatment wetlands (FTWs), and free-water surface wetlands (FWSs), were evaluated along with planted and un-planted controls, equating to 24 mesocosms. Individual contaminants in both designs inhibited the rate of NO3-N removal, while the presence of the contaminants in their mixtures decreased N removal rates in FWSs compared to FTWs. However, by the end of each trial, 72-99 % of the NO3-N was removed despite the wetland design or the presence of contaminant(s). The FWSs outperformed the FTWs earlier in the growing season (May-June) when the water temperatures were colder, while the FTWs outperformed the FWSs when the plants reached maturity (July-September). Both FTWs and FWSs observed significant removal of contaminants with 28-89 %, 63-70 %, >90 %, and >92 % removal for PFOS, caffeine, glyphosate, and atrazine, respectively. Limited removal of SO42- was observed (≤57.9 %). These findings improve our understanding of water treatment for contaminant mixtures and their impact on NO3-N removal, guiding treatment wetland design and placement.

Wetland habitats represent a critical component of biodiversity hotspots that support numerous rare species, including terrestrial orchids. In North America, over half of all terrestrial orchids are found in wetlands, more than a quarter of which are now threatened with extinction (G1–G3). This concerning trend is exacerbated by a lack of information on effective restoration strategies aimed at orchids and other species that inhabit these areas. The white fringeless orchid, Platanthera integrilabia (Correll) Luer, the subject of this study, is restricted to mostly shaded wetland habitats along the Cumberland Plateau of the Appalachian Mountains and has suffered widespread declines due to habitat destruction and hydrologic alterations leading to its U.S. Federal listing in 2016. During an 11-year period, (2009–2020), the effects of canopy thinning and hydrology modification (e.g., debris dam installation) were carried out in Kentucky to improve fecundity and viability in this species. Long-term monitoring revealed increased inundation rates, soil saturation, orchid viability, and enhanced floristic diversity. After 2–4 years post management, flowering increased by over 1000

Surface coal mining and subsequent reclamation efforts in the Appalachian Mountains, USA, transform the ecological characteristics of natural landscapes. The Forestry Reclamation Approach (FRA) is a mine reclamation method that emphasizes best management practices in forestry. FRA practices have demonstrated success in establishing native forests and accelerating natural succession on coal mines; however, no studies have empirically examined the effects of the FRA on bird communities. Our study aimed to assess the avian community composition within young forests reclaimed using the FRA after one decade of forest growth. Whereas traditional reclamation practices often support grassland avian guilds, we expected that the FRA would provide habitat for shrubland and young forest avian guilds. Moreover, we sought to determine whether FRA forests would contain known avian indicator species of the native forest land cover. In June 2022, we conducted point count surveys in high-elevation, red spruce-northern hardwood (RS-NH) forests in the Appalachian Mountains of eastern West Virginia, USA. Using Bayesian multispecies occupancy models, we assessed avian guild occupancy and species richness within two FRA forest age classes (2-5 years and 8-11 years). We also examined avian community composition within two older RS-NH reference age classes to predict the future avian composition within FRA forests if reclamation succeeds. We found that the FRA breeding bird community included all of the avian indicator species expected to inhabit a young RS-NH forest. These results suggest that after approximately one decade, legacy mines reclaimed using the FRA are progressing toward a native RS-NH forest that supports associated forest bird communities.

Constructed wetlands mitigate nitrogen (N) loads in surface runoff, yet implications of common contaminant "cocktail" mixtures to wetland N removal are relatively unexplored. A 15N isotopic tracer was used to assess the impact contaminants from urban (imidacloprid, caffeine, and PFOS) and rural (atrazine, glyphosate, and sulfate) environments have on nitrogen (N) pathways in free-water surface wetlands (FWS) and floating treatment wetlands (FTW). Nitrate-N removal rates ranged from 0.20 to 0.68 d-1 and were dependent on the contaminant mixture and wetland design. Of the enriched 15N, biomass uptake accounted for 36.5 ± 30.7 %, 6.3 ± 4.2 % was denitrified and lost through air-water exchange, and 55.9 ± 24.4 % was assumed to have been denitrified and transmitted through plant tissues or lost due to ebullition (bubbling). The FTWs had increased temporary storage of N while the FWSs had increased permanent removal. In the presence of contaminant mixtures, both designs observed a shift in the NO3N removal pathway toward increased biomass uptake. Caffeine (59.7 ± 3.6 %), PFOS (65.9 ± 8.8 %), atrazine (92.0 ± 0.6 %), and glyphosate (>89.1 %) were effectively removed from the water with limited removal for SO42- (2.3 ± 12.3 %). Findings elucidate implications to N fate and maintenance required (e.g., biomass harvesting) in two constructed pulse-flow wetlands positioned in urban and rural landscapes while providing a clear understanding of how system design and water quality characteristics impact biogeochemical cycling.

Coal mining has impacted land cover in the Appalachian region. The Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA) of 1977 requires U.S. coal mining companies to reclaim mined lands to avert soil erosion and landslides. Traditional reclamation practices involve soil compaction and planting of non

Streamside management zones (SMZs) are regulated components of actively managed forests in the eastern United States, but width and overstory retention requirements vary widely among states. Within watershed-scale harvests, we evaluated the relative abundances of three riparian-associated songbirds (Acadian flycatcher, Empidonax virescens; blue-headed vireo, Vireo solitarius; and Louisiana waterthrush, Parkesia motacilla) near Appalachian headwater streams receiving three SMZ treatments representative of a range of current state SMZ regulations in the eastern United States. Prior to harvest, all species were relatively abundant near all stream types, including ephemerals. Abundances of all species were largely similar among SMZ treatments at 3 years and 10 years postharvest and were higher along streams with greater residual canopy cover within 100 m. Forested SMZs as prescribed by current regulations can sustain these species in managed forests up to 10 years postharvest, but abundance appears to be driven largely by canopy cover retention in adjacent stands. Managing habitat for riparian-associated songbirds in harvested watersheds will require expanding the extent of focus beyond the local stream corridor to include consideration of silvicultural systems that retain greater canopy cover in surrounding forests. Where conservation of riparian-associated songbirds is a management objective, SMZ protection should be extended to all streams.Study Implications. The results of this study suggest that forested streamside management zones (SMZs) mandated by contemporary best management practices (BMPs) in Kentucky and other eastern US states can sustain similar abundances of three riparian-associated songbirds in managed watersheds up to 10 years after harvest. Overstory retention in SMZs along perennial and intermittent streams is common across the eastern United States, but state BMPs rarely require retention along ephemeral streams. Target songbird species occupied forests along all stream types prior to harvest, and their postharvest abundances were positively associated with canopy retention within 100 m of streams. If long-term occupancy of managed stands by riparian-associated songbirds is an objective, we recommend using SMZs around all streams, including ephemerals, and implementing at least moderate-retention silvicultural systems in areas within 100 m of streams.

Red spruce (Picea rubens) is the keystone species of the red spruce-northern hardwood forest, a unique high-elevation plant community that supports high biodiversity in the Central Appalachian mountains. These forests were drastically reduced by the Industrial Logging Era of the late 1800s and early 1900s, and the few remaining patches of this forest type remain in a degraded and fragmented state. Efforts to restore this ecosystem in West Virginia have been ongoing for over a decade and include red spruce plantings on old-field agricultural sites and on legacy coal mines. This project seeks to examine restoration outcomes for vegetation and soils along a 10 year chronosequence of planting sites. Significant differences in seedling height were observed for each year examined with old-fields exhibiting higher early (Year 1) heights, while legacy mines were significantly taller in Years 7 and 10. Annual growth rates did not differ between the two planting treatments. Soil chemical differences between treatments may have influenced seedling response. Although comparison of soil characteristics from the reforested sites to those from relatively undisturbed reference red spruce stands exhibited some statistical similarities, it was clear that mining and agricultural practices altered the soil environment greatly. As such, additional research to further examine practices that could improve soil health on these disturbed lands is recommended.

The Forestry Reclamation Approach (FRA) is a practical guide to reforesting surface mined lands. Bats, a group of mammals with declining populations, could benefit from mine reforestation. To determine if the FRA can provide suitable bat foraging habitat, we surveyed bat activity at created depressional wetlands on 1-year-old and 8-year-old FRA reforested lands (FRA1; FRA8), wetlands in naturally regenerating forest on traditionally reclaimed mined land (similar to 40 years old; REGEN), and wetlands in mature forest not previously mined (MAT). We passively recorded echolocation calls for 12 nights across 16 sites between June and August 2021. We analyzed bat activity using the number of recordings, pulses, and feeding buzzes in conjunction with nocturnal insect abundance and biomass, microhabitat characteristics, and landscape characteristics via generalized linear mixed effects modeling. Both FRA1 and FRA8 had activity levels similar to MAT. REGEN had significantly greater foraging activity than the other three land classes, possibly due to its distance from roads and proximity to forest edges. Insect abundance and biomass were comparable across sites, indicating FRA practices do not hinder the establishment of a prey base for bats. Overall, bats are utilizing the restored mined land for foraging. Reforestation of mined lands, complemented with wetland creation, provides habitat that could benefit bat species conservation in Appalachia.

Habitat restoration and creation within human-altered landscapes can buffer the impacts of climate change on wildlife. The Forestry Reclamation Approach (FRA) is a coal surface mine reclamation practice that enhances reforestation through soil decompaction and the planting of native trees. Recently, wetland creation has been coupled with FRA to increase habitat available for wildlife, including amphibians. Our objective was to evaluate the response of pond-breeding amphibians to the FRA by comparing species occupancy, richness, and abundance across two FRA age-classes (2–5-year and 8–11-year reclaimed forests), traditionally reclaimed sites that were left to naturally regenerate after mining, and in mature, unmined forests in the Monongahela National Forest (West Virginia, USA). We found that species richness and occupancy estimates did not differ across treatment types. Spotted Salamanders (Ambystoma maculatum) and Eastern Newts (Notophthalmus viridescens) had the greatest estimated abundances in wetlands in the older FRA treatment. Additionally, larger wetlands had greater abundances of Eastern Newts, Wood Frogs (Lithobates sylvaticus), and Green Frogs (L. clamitans) compared to smaller wetlands. Our results suggest that wetland creation and reforestation increases the number of breeding sites and promotes microhabitat and microclimate conditions that likely maximize the resilience of pond-breeding amphibians to anticipated climate changes in the study area.

IntroductionTimber harvests influence coarse woody debris (CWD) dynamics both initially and long-term—contributing a significant amount of CWD as slash immediately after harvest, but also removing some or all of the mature trees necessary to produce CWD over time. Whereas shelterwood and other similar timber harvest systems retain varying amounts of the overstory, preserving CWD production after harvest, commercial clearcutting essentially eliminates sources of fresh CWD until regenerating trees are large enough to contribute CWD through fallen limbs or trunks, often decades after harvest. Forestry best management practices (BMPs) are critical for reducing the water quality impacts of timber harvest, but their effects on riparian and stream CWD are not well understood.MethodsThe current project explores CWD dynamics (surveyed in 2001, 2004, 2009, and 2020) in three eastern Kentucky watersheds receiving differing timber harvest treatments in 1983: unharvested control, BMPs (clearcut with a protected streamside management zone), and no BMPs (clearcut).ResultsAnalysis of hydrology data over the period of record demonstrated significant flooding in 2004 that likely “reset” CWD in the study watersheds. Coarse woody debris volume was higher in control (3.33 m3/ha) than no BMP (1.03 m3/ha) in 2020, with CWD accumulation rates ranging from 0.039 m3/ha in the no BMP watershed to 0.19 m3/ha in the control.DiscussionWhile not significantly different, CWD volume was nominally higher in the BMP watershed than the No BMP watershed, suggesting that, in addition to their many other benefits, streamside management zones help facilitate CWD provisioning during stand initiation after a commercial clearcut harvest. Furthermore, this study suggests that provisioning of CWD may not recover after clearcut harvesting for 100 years or more.

Reclamation Highlights: Rapid growth and canopy closure by conifers resulted in higher canopy interception rates than those observed in deciduous trees, both on reforested mine sites and in natural forests. Results from this study show the importance of species survival rates on interception and that low survival rates could negatively impact, or at least delay, the hydrologic recovery of a reclaimed area and potentially threaten landscape stability. Use of the forestry reclamation approach can help restore hydrologic function on reclaimed surface mines.

Continued urbanization is likely to reduce human-nature experience, transforming human-dwelt spaces into increasingly artificial environments and removing humans from interaction with non-human living things and their ecosystems. In urban spaces, outdoor experiential educational activities can help students increase their familiarity with the outdoors and get their hands dirty. This case study reports on an environmental field day for middle school students from an urban Kentucky middle school. Students rotated through three activities (picking insects out of leaf packs, testing water quality, and planting trees), then completed a brief survey designed and administered by their faculty. Students rated the tree planting activity more highly than the other two activities (p < 0.0001), suggesting that this activity was more accessible, interesting, and engaging to a broader range of students. However, student qualitative responses to the water quality and leaf pack activities demonstrated an ability to make connections between those activities and the broader world, such as the importance of their stream-water quality for the Gulf of Mexico, or the implications of finding pollution-tolerant insects for understanding stream health. Overall, we recommend planning field days with multiple activities that offer various entry points for students with a range of prior experience of nature. We also emphasize the potential for these sorts of activities to help students develop a sense of awe or wonder in nature-seeing and handling things they never considered before but now experience as profound and interesting. These observations are consistent with the literature demonstrating the need for human-nature experience (especially in urban areas) to support developing a sense of affectivity for the environment and interest in taking environmentally beneficial actions, as well as the role of place-based experiential education in helping students bridge that gap.

Hydrologic monitoring began on two headwater streams (<1 km2) on the University of Kentucky's Robinson Forest in 1971. We evaluated stream-water (1974–2013) and bulk-deposition (wet + dust) (1984–2013) chemistry in the context of regional wet-deposition patterns that showed decreases in both sulfate and nitrate concentrations as well as proximal surface-mine expansion. Decadal time steps (1974–83, 1984–93, 1994–2003, 2004–2013) were used to quantify change. Comparison of the first two decades showed similarly decreased sulfate (minimum flow-adjusted annual-mean concentration of ≈13.5 mg/L in 1982 to 8.8 mg/L in 1992) and increased pH (6.6–6.8) in both streams, reflecting contemporaneous changes in both bulk and wet deposition. In contrast, concentrations of nitrate (0.14 to >0.25 mg/L) and base cations increased between these two decades, coinciding with expansion of surface mining between 1985 and 1995. In 2004, stream-water pH (6.7 in 2004), sulfate (9.2 mg/L), and nitrate (>0.11 mg/L) were similar to 1982, despite wet-deposition concentrations being lower. Base-cation concentrations were higher in the stream adjacent to ongoing surface mining relative to the stream situated near the middle of the experimental forest. However, pH decreased to approximately 5.7 by 2013 for both streams, which, combined with a shift in dominant cations from calcium to magnesium and potassium, indicates that the soil-buffering capacity of this landscape has been exceeded. Ratios of bulk deposition and stream-water concentrations indicate enrichment of sulfate (1.7–25.2) and cations (0.5–64.8), but not nitrogen (0.1–5.6), indicating that the Forest is not nitrogen saturated and that ongoing changes in water-quality are sulfate driven. When concentrations were adjusted to account for changes in streamflow (climate) over the 4 decades, external influences (land management/regulation) explained most change. The amount and direction of change differed among constituents, both between consecutive decades and between the first and last decades, reflecting the influence of localized surface mining even as regional wet deposition continued to improve due to the Clean Air Act. The implication is that localized stressors have the potential to out-pace the benefits of national environmental policies for communities that depend on local water-resources in similar environments.

ABSTRACT:In biodiverse ecosystems of high conservation value, such as the high elevation red spruce (Picea rubens Sarg. [Pinaceae]) forests of Appalachia, disturbed landscapes are in need of damage repair and improved early successional habitat. Increasing plant diversity through direct seeding and repur-posing downed woody debris from legacy mine plantations could add valuable habitat components for ecological restoration projects. We direct seeded native herbaceous and shrub species on a reclaimed surface mine in the Monongahela National Forest, West Virginia, to examine the influence of woody debris on native seed germination, seedling survival, and cover in the first growing season. We selected 9 native herbaceous and 1 shrub species based on importance in the red spruce ecosystem, their height to compete with tall aggressive grasses, value to pollinators, and commercial availability. The 10 species were individually sown in autumn 2018 after soil decompaction in 1 m2 (10.76 ft2) plots and replicated 3 times with and without 2.27 kg (5 lb) of woody debris. Some seeds of all species germinated and produced cover. Germination ranged from 1.6±0.9% (Mean±SE; tall white beardtongue [Penstemon digitalis Nutt. ex Sims (Scrophulariaceae)], wood) to 66.7±7.9% (showy ticktrefoil [Desmodium canadense (L.) DC. (Fabaceae)], no wood); survival ranged 0% (purple node joe pye weed [Eupatorium purpureum (L.) E.E. Lamont (Asteraceae)], no wood) to 98.1±1.9% (staghorn sumac [Rhus typhina L. (Anacardiaceae)], wood); and final cover ranged 0.5±0.0% (butterfly milkweed [Asclepias tuberosa L. (Asclepiadaceae)], wood, and Eupatorium purpureum, no wood) to 14.4±9.0% (blackeyed Susan [Rudbeckia hirta L. (Asteraceae)], no wood). The odds of survival for all species with woody debris versus without was approximately 2:1 (P = 0.011). Future monitoring will provide long-term data on the survival and potential of these species for use in restoration projects.Branduzzi AM, Barton CD, Baskin CC, Davis AG. 2022. Evaluating the use of woody debris to enhance native plant establishment from seeds on legacy coal mines in West Virginia (USA). Native Plants Journal 23(3):272–287.

Surface mining for coal has contributed to widespread deforestation and soil loss in coal mining regions around the world, and particularly in Appalachia, USA. Mined land reforestation is of interest in this and other regions where forests are the dominant pre-mining land use. This study evaluated mine soil development on surface-mined sites reforested according to the Forestry Reclamation Approach, representing a chronosequence of time ranging from 0 to 19 years after reclamation. Soils were sampled in depth increments to 50 cm and analyzed for a suite of soil physical and chemical characteristics. Overall, soil fines (silt + clay) tended to increase over time since reclamation (17% silt at year 0 increasing to 35% at year 11; 3.2% clay at year 0 increasing to 5.7% at year 14) while concentrations of metals (e.g., Al, Mg, Mn, Na) demonstrated varied relationships with time since reclamation. Concentrations of organic carbon (OC) tended to increase with time (0.9% OC at year 0 increasing to 2.3% at year 14), and were most enriched in near-surface soils. Some soil characteristics (e.g., Na, OC, Ca) demonstrated patterns of increasing similarity to the forest control, while others were distinct from the forest control throughout the chronosequence (e.g., Al, clay, Mn, gravel). Future surveys of these soils over time will elucidate longer-term patterns in soil development, and better characterize the time scales over which these soils might be expected to approximate forest soil conditions.

Changes in land use, such as mountaintop removal mining with valley fills (MTR-VF), often results in headwater streams with elevated specific conductivity (SC). Stream salamanders appear to be particularly sensitive to elevated SC, as previous studies have shown occupancy and abundance decline consistently among all species and life stages as SC increases. Yet, the proximate mechanism responsible for the population declines in streams with elevated SC have eluded researchers. We sampled salamander assemblages across a continuous SC gradient (30–1966 μS/cm) in southeastern Kentucky and examined the diet of larval and adult salamanders to determine if the ratio of aquatic to terrestrial prey (autochthony), total prey volume, aquatic prey importance (Ix), and body condition are influenced by SC. Further, we asked if threshold points for each diet component were present along a gradient of SC. Larval salamanders experienced a 12–fold decline in autochthony at 153 μS/cm, a 4.2–fold decline in total prey volume at 100 μS/cm, a 2.2-fold decline in aquatic Ix at 135 μS/cm, and a rapid decline in body condition as SC increased. Adult salamanders experienced a 3–fold decline in autochthony at 382 μS/cm, no change in prey volumes, a 2-fold decline in aquatic Ix at 163 μS/cm, and a decline in body condition as SC increased. Our results indicate that SC indirectly affects stream salamander populations by changing the composition of diet, which suggests that food availability is a proximate mechanism that leads to reduced population occupancy, abundance, and persistence in streams with elevated SC.

The University of Kentucky (U KY) has owned Robinson Forest (37.460723 degrees N, 83.158598 degrees W) since 1923, conducting experiments crucial to understanding the environmental effects of land management in the region. Part of the management of Robinson Forest has been collection of environmental data, including precipitation quantity, bulk-deposition chemistry, streamflow, stream-water chemistry, and air and stream temperature. Over the years, these data have been collected and archived using various technologies and have been mostly inaccessible for research use - unedited and uncompiled, scattered across several spreadsheets and paper records. Through a partnership between the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and U KY, daily precipitation data for six stations and stream data from four watersheds in Robinson Forest have been compiled for 1971-2018, checked for transcription errors, and annotated for changes in methodologies. These data are available as a USGS data release at . Improved accessibility of this data set provides an important research resource for understanding water quality in minimally effected forests in the region. Preliminary results indicate that these data present a valuable opportunity to evaluate linkages among atmospheric deposition and stream chemistry, the effects of environmental policy, such as the Clean Air Act, and effects from nearby land disturbance in the form of surface mining. Furthermore, these data fill a geographic and physiographic gap in what is available to examine deposition and streamflow patterns over the last 45 years, supplementing those long-term records of research sites in northern (e.g., Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest), central (e.g., Fernow Experimental Forest) and southern Appalachia (e.g., Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory). As an oasis in the midst of significant surface mining activity, Robinson Forest presents a unique opportunity to understand environmental conditions characteristic of minimally disturbed forests similar to pre-mining conditions in the Central Appalachian region.

Wetlands created within disturbed landscapes may be an important key to restoring lost ecosystem functions. Reclaimed mines provide an opportunity to create wetlands and restore natural features within a disturbed landscape while benefiting amphibians, a taxa affected by habitat loss. A large-scale restoration effort within the Monongahela National Forest, West Virginia, USA has resulted in the creation of over 1400 small wetlands. We sampled 39 of these wetlands among four ages (2, 4, 6, and 8 years) to: 1) characterize differences in wetland habitat, 2) estimate amphibian occupancy and abundance, 3) identify wetland characteristics most important for amphibian utilization of wetlands. Mean wetland size, percent canopy cover, percent vegetation cover, distance to the nearest stream, and distance to the nearest forest varied significantly among wetland age classes. Water quality was within normal parameters for natural and created wetlands within our study region. Amphibian occupancy and abundance varied by species, with occupancy predicted by wetland age (Green Frog, Lithobates clamitans) and lower percent vegetation cover (Spotted Salamander, Ambystoma maculatum, L. clamitans) while abundance was predicted by wetland age (A. maculatum), higher percent vegetation cover (Eastern Newt, Notophthahnus viridescens), larger wetland surface area (A. maculatum, N. viridescens), and shorter distance to forest (N. viridescens). Our results indicate, with adequate site preparation, created wetlands on reforested surface mines provide suitable breeding habitat for pond breeding amphibians.