Fine-tuning of soil water and nutrient fertilizer levels for the ecological restoration of coal-mined spoils using Elaeagnus angustifolia

Coal mining activities remain of great environmental concern because of several negative impacts on soil ecosystems. Appropriate revegetation interventions of coal-spoiled lands can provide environmental management solutions to restore soil degraded ecosystems. The present study addressed the potential of the pioneer woody species, Elaeagnus angustifolia, in the restoration of coal-mined spoils under a range of different water (W) levels and nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) applications. The optimum growth performance of E. angustifolia was found under a combination of W level at 66.0% of field capacity, N dose of 74.0 mg/ kg soil, and P dose of 36.0 mg/ kg soil. Our findings demonstrate how optimum growth performance of E. angustifolia can be achieved by fine-tuning doses of W, N, and P resources, and how this in turn could greatly support the ecological restoration of coal-mined degraded environments.