Pastures established on rehabilitated surface coal mined land : an assessment of forage production and implications for livestock grazing

Abstract

Currently, land rehabilitation best practice in South Africa is to revegetate ameliorated soil with grass mixtures. These grasses have valuable grazing potential that can deliver great benefits to livestock farmers. However, due to paucity of research and published findings, the viability of such post-mining land use in South Africa remains unclear. To evaluate the grazing potential of rehabilitated mine lands, this study examined soil properties, biomass, and veld condition across a 4–30-year chronosequence. Despite suboptimal pH in the majority of sites, there were satisfactory levels of Na, K, Ca and Mg. There was biomass production in all sites with high levels of basal cover (36–91%). Percentage veld condition scores were moderate (40–60%) to excellent (60–100%) in all sites. Decreaser species were the most abundant and the grazing capacity in all sites was 2.7–3.6 ha LSU−1. These results were indicative of the ability of rehabilitated sites to withstand the impacts of soil erosion, with high potential to meet forage requirements of animals in terms of quantity. Based on these results, the implementation of controlled cattle grazing on rehabilitated mine lands in Mpumalanga, South Africa, appears to be a practicable post-mining land use option.