Abstract:
Reclamation is an important activity to support ecosystem recovery after mine closure. The
success of this effort depends on plant adaptability to environmental pressure, primarily related to
high-acidity soil. However, more information about plant adaptability in reclamation sites is need
ed, although it is required to determine the alternative species for supporting revegetation efforts.
Our study investigated the adaptability of multiple tree species used for coal mining reclamation
and assessed their essential role in enhancing biodiversity in the degraded ecosystem. An eco
logical survey was conducted using a transect line method with a sampling plot size of 20×20 m
and an interval from each 50 m. This study found that seven species were used to support the
reclamation efforts, i.e., Aleurites moluccana, Archindendron pauciflorum, Artocarpus heterophyl
lus, A. integer, Durio zibethinus, Hevea brasiliensis, and Mangifera casturi. The survival across
species was 78.60−89.39 %, with a height of 64.75−133.94 cm and a diameter of 0.59−1.39 cm.
The species diversity was low, with a richness of 0.98 and a heterogeneity of 0.84. These spe
cies also had an unbalanced distribution pattern with an evenness index of 0.43. These findings
showed that the selected plant species had good adaptability to the environmental conditions of
the reclamation site. Although their contribution to biodiversity improvement was still low, there
was a positive contribution from these species to biodiversity recovery after the mine closure. Fur
ther investigation is still required to monitor the long-term benefits of these species on ecosystem
recovery in the reclamation area.
