Red Hills Lignite Mine, Mississippi

The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the effect of surface lignite strip mining on the soil microbiome following a chronosequence of reclamation using 16S rRNA targeted high throughput sequencing in a subtropical environment, while demonstrating the effect of vegetative cover (wood versus pasture) on the soil microbiome. This study will test the hypothesis that reclamation of the soil bacterial community will approximate that of unmined sites as the chronosequence proceeds from recent (~1 yr) to old (~13 yr) reclamation sites.

本研究旨在通过亚热带环境中基于16S rRNA的靶向高通量测序技术，展示地表褐煤露天开采对土壤微生物群落的影响，并探讨植被覆盖（木材与牧场）对土壤微生物群落的影响。研究将验证假设：随着复垦时间序列从近期（约1年）至老期（约13年）复垦地段的推移，土壤细菌群落的复垦将趋近于未开采地区的群落结构。