ABSTRACT
Paper presents an assessment of growth of black and grey alder introduced on the fly ash disposal sites resulting from lignite combustion in central Poland. The research was conducted at 3 variants: control with pure fly ash (CFA), with addition of lignite culm (CFA+L) and acidic sands from overburden of lignite mine (CFA+MS). Before tree planting whole surface was covered by biosoilds (4 Mg ha−1), mixed with grass seeds and NPK fertilization and applied by hydroseeding. Black alder displayed better growth parameters than the grey alder, however, the demonstrated differences may arise from the specific ecology of each species. Positive impact of lignite amendment was observed in higher density index (SDI) and tree height (H), whereas the addition of acidic sand had no impact on the growth of alders. According to our results an intrduction of black alder at CFA+L variant is an optimal solution for fly ash disposal site reclamation.
