ABSTRACT
In the United States, surface mining has created over 1.82 Mha of degraded land, the majority in the Appalachian region. With demand for bioenergy derived from renewable biomass resources increasing and a finite availability of land and water resources, interest for bioenergy crop production with low input demands on marginal lands (i.e., miscanthus) is subsequently increasing. However, physical (available water content, high compaction), chemical (pH, lack of nutrients, plant toxicities), and biological (low organic carbon content) soil properties have to be appropriately amended for miscanthus to have a large impact as a biomass energy crop in minesoils in the Appalachian region.
