Dynamics of the ecological-functional parameters of replantozems on dumps of open-pit coal mines in Central Siberia

The dynamics have been studied of the ecological-functional parameters (EFP) of replantozems formed on the dumps of the Borodinskiy open-pit coal mine in the Kansk-Achinsk Coal Basin (55°52′ N, 94°54′ E) that were not involved into agricultural use during the first 30 years. The work was based on the integrated analysis of the agrochemical properties and the EFP, which characterized the state of the plant cover, the microbial cenoses, and the biochemical activity of the replantozems representing a chronological series (5, 20, and 30 years). Multicomponent plant communities were formed on the surface of the replantozems over the 30-year period. The filled horizon of the replantozems was slowly involved into the metabolic processes. The thickness of the biologically active layer did not exceed 10 cm. The microbial cenosis’s functional activity was relatively stabilized, and the values of the microbial biomass and basal respiration approached the background ones only in the upper (0–5 cm) layer. The biochemical activity of the microorganisms agreed with the changes in the properties of the upper (0–10 cm) layer of the replantozems: the contents of the total nitrogen and humus increased, as well as the degree of the humic acids “maturity” and the concentration of the mobile phosphorus, while the alkalinity decreased.