Forschungszentrum Landschaftsentwicklung und Bergbaulandschaften (FZLB)
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The German government's decision to phase out lignite mining by 2038 or earlier, as recently 2030 has been agreed for the Rhineland, will trigger a number of transition processes in Germany's remaining lignite mining areas. The two largest lignite mining areas are located in geographically different regions: Rhineland in the west and Lusatia in the east. As the socio-economic and environmental conditions in these two mining areas are set to change dramatically, the German government has adopted extensive economic support measures. However, the environmental changes will also lead to changes in the ecosystem functions and services provided by the future post-mining landscapes.
Gerwin et al. (2023) compare the two main lignite producing regions of Germany in terms of their natural and cultural environments. The economic situation and its history are reflected and differences are outlined. Part of the differences in cultural development can be explained by the natural conditions, especially the edaphic factors and the climatic situation. Because of the specific geological settings, tailored mining technologies were developed and used in the two regions, with different effects on the resulting post-mining landscapes.
We conclude that the landscapes of Lusatia and the Rhineland have been radically restructured by the long and varied history of lignite mining. Both regions will change significantly as the mining industry continues to decline and is expected to cease altogether within the next decade. These changes in the post-mining landscapes and the ecosystem services will provide both challenges and opportunities. The preconditions for positive socio-economic development and for sustainable land use concepts that also consider ecological aspects are different for the two regions. The exchange of knowledge and experience between the two mining regions is crucial to the success of this major transformation process, despite, or perhaps because of, these differences.
Gerwin, W., Raab, T., Birkhofer, K., Hinz, C., Letmathe, P., Leuchner, M., Roß-Nickoll, M., Rüde, T., Trachte, K., Wätzold, F., Lehmkuhl, F. (2023): Perspectives of lignite post-mining landscapes under changing environmental conditions: what can we learn from a comparison between the Rhenish and Lusatian region in Germany? Environmental Sciences Europe 35:36. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12302-023-00738-z
Background The decision of the German federal government to cease lignite mining until 2038 or—if possible— already earlier until 2030, will cause manifold transition processes in the remaining lignite mining districts of Germany. The two largest districts are located in geographically opposite regions: The Rhineland in the western part and Lusatia in the east of Germany. As particularly these two mining districts will experience severe changes in their socioeconomic as well environmental conditions, the federal government has adopted comprehensive economic support measures. However, the environmental changes will also cause altered ecosystem functions and services to be provided by the future post-mining landscapes.
Results In this paper, the two main lignite-producing regions of Germany are compared with regard to their natural and cultural settings. The economic situation and its history are reflected and differences are outlined. Part of the disparities in the cultural development can be explained by very different natural conditions, especially edaphic factors and climatic situation. Because of dissimilar geological settings, different mining technologies were developed and are in use in the two regions with distinct effects on the resulting post-mining landscapes.
Conclusion The long-standing and manifold lignite mining activities have radically restructured the landscapes in Lusatia and the Rhineland. With the ongoing decline of the mining industry and its complete cessation, presumably within the next decade, both regions will alter their faces significantly. These changes offer both challenges but also opportunities with respect to the post-mining landscapes and their ecosystem services they are going to provide. The prerequisites for a positive socioeconomic development and for sustainable land-use concepts that also consider ecological aspects are different for both regions. However, or especially because of these differences, the knowledge exchange and experience transfer between both mining regions are pivotal for the success of this extensive transformation process.
Die zurückliegenden trocken-heißen Sommer haben im Süden Brandenburgs zu zahlreichen Bränden in den dominierenden Kiefernwäldern geführt, einige davon mit katastrophalen Ausmaßen. Dazu gehören die extremen Brandereignisse 2018 bei Treuenbrietzen sowie 2019 bei Jüterbog und Lieberose, die zusammen weit über 1000 ha Waldfläche zerstört und dabei auch Veränderungen der betroffenen Waldböden verursacht haben.
Das seit Mai 2020 von der FNR geförderte Verbundvorhaben Pyrophob befasst sich mit den Auswirkungen von Waldbränden im Süden Brandenburgs auf die Waldökosysteme und mit waldbaulichen Maßnahmen, die mittelfristig zu einer Verringerung der Brandanfälligkeit der Wälder beitragen sollen. Im Rahmen des auf eine fünfjährige Laufzeit ausgelegten Verbundvorhabens finden bodenkundliche Untersuchungen auf zwölf Versuchsflächen bei Treuenbrietzen und Jüterbog statt. An beiden Standorten werden unverbrannte Referenzflächen mit einbezogen. Ergänzend konnten bei Lieberose bereits 2019 nur kurz nach dem Brandgeschehen erste Bodenuntersuchungen durchgeführt werden. Die untersuchten Brandflächen bei Jüterbog und Lieberose sind als Totalreservate ausgewiesen, auf denen auch nach dem Brand waldbauliche Maßnahmen vollständig unterbleiben. Auf den Flächen bei Treuenbrietzen wurden verschiedene Behandlungsvarianten durchgeführt, zu denen auf einem Teil der Flächen die vollständige Entfernung der abgestorbenen Bäume gehörte, während auf anderen Teilflächen Totholz auf der Fläche verblieb.
Ziel der bodenkundlichen Arbeiten in Pyrophob ist zum einen eine Charakterisierung der direkten Auswirkungen des Brandes auf Humus und Mineralboden hinsichtlich des Stoffbestandes und bodenbiologischer Prozesse. Zum anderen wird der Stoffaustrag aus dem Oberboden erfasst. Der etwaige Einfluss der unterschiedlichen waldbaulichen Vorgehensweise auf die Bodenverhältnisse wird dabei als ein Indikator für die Auswahl geeigneter Maßnahmen berücksichtigt.
In den verschiedenen Untersuchungsvarianten des Vorhabens wurden zu diesem Zweck Humus- und Mineralbodenprofile untersucht. Zudem wurden Mischproben aus dem Ober- und Unterboden entnommen und auf ihren Stoffhaushalt hin analysiert. Auf jeder Untersuchungsfläche wurden je drei frei dränende Kleinlysimeter in 10 cm Bodentiefe installiert, um die zeitlichen Veränderungen der Sickerwasserzusammensetzung und die durch den Brand initiierten Stoffausträge aus dem Oberboden zu quantifizieren. Ergänzend finden Untersuchungen zu möglichen Auswirkungen der Brände auf bodenbiologische Prozesse wie Streuabbau und Stickstoffmineralisation statt.
Editorial for the Special Issue “Anthropogenic Geomorphology – Geomorphology in the Anthropocene”
(2023)
The spatial variability of soil physical properties on the landscape scale is often increased by anthropogenic land occupation, not only by current land use but also through the legacies of past land use systems. The remains of historic charcoal hearts are an example for such a disturbance of the soil landscape by former forestry. Such relict charcoal hearths (RCH) exhibit a clearly altered soil stratigraphy, most prominently characterized by a technogenic substrate layer on the soil surface, and their soil physical properties can considerably differ from those of surrounding forest soils. The aim of our study is to characterize the soil water and temperature regime on RHC in a pre-industrial charcoal production area in Brandenburg, Germany, as compared with the surrounding sandy forest soils. Soil properties were analyzed in profiles on and around hearth sites and are monitored in a sensor transect equipped with soil
moisture sensors and pF-meters. Results of soil sample analyses show differences in density and porosity between the RCH soils and surrounding forest soils, not only in the technogenic layer but also in the buried soil layers on hearth sites. The soil water characteristic curves determined in the laboratory indicate a modified pore size distribution and lower plant available water contents in the RCH soils. Preliminary results of the ongoing soil water monitoring, however, show increased soil wetness in the RCH soils, along with lower soil moisture tensions. Furthermore, the measurements show higher variations of soil temperature in RCH soils. The results affirm that the legacies of historic charcoal production can increase the spatial variability of soil physical properties and therefore also of ecological site conditions in forest areas. The results of soil moisture monitoring suggest that a determination of soil physical parameters in the laboratory is not sufficient to characterize the spatio-temporal variations of the soil water regime.
Historical charcoal production has long been an unconsidered type of forest utilization in lowland areas. The archaeological discovery of a large charcoal burning area in the forefield of the active opencast lignite mine J€anschwalde in SE Brandenburg (North German Lowlands) has highlighted the need for multidisciplinary research in the study of the dimensions of historical charcoal burning. The charcoal produced in our study area, the former royal forest district Tauer, provided energy for the nearby Peitz ironworks during its operation from the mid-16th to the mid-19th century. Here, we aimed to record the amount, size and distribution of relict charcoal hearths (RCHs) to examine their context with respect to the ironworks and to better understand the potential impacts on late Quaternary landscape change. The applied methods combined archaeological research with shaded-relief mapping of RCHs. To evaluate the detection success of RCHs in the shaded-relief maps (SRMs), we compared the results with the results from specific archaeological surveys and conventional forest site mapping. Furthermore, we analyzed our dataset with descriptive, comparable and spatial statistics. Additionally, dendrochronological dating of charcoal fragments from selected RCHs was used to investigate the temporal relationships among the RCHs. Approximately 6000 circular RCHs were manually digitally identified in the SRMs of the 109-km2 evaluable area. However, ground truthing showed that the shaded-relief maps could not completely capture all RCHs in our study area due to local conditions. At the regional scale, two focus areas with high RCH site densities were found. Statistical analysis revealed that the diameters of the RCHs range widely from 4 to 30.5 m. Spatial statistics were applied to the RCH diameters to aggregate areas with larger or smaller RCHs. At the small scale, no systematic arrangement of RCHs was obvious in the SRMs. Dendrochronological dating of selected RCHs lying close together could not detect significant spatiotemporal relationships or patterns. The dating results also showed that some areas have been preferentially used for charcoal production for over 300 years. Due to the homogeneity of the physiogeographical location factors, we assume that these factors are not superficially responsible for site selection. Instead, economic location factors and contemporary regulations are more likely responsible for the distribution of RCHs.
Relict charcoal hearths are round or elliptical earthen platforms up to 11 m in diameter and a widespread feature of historical industry that supplied charcoal used in the production of iron in furnaces or smelters. The iron industry dominated Litchfield County, Connecticut, and surrounding areas in the northeastUnited States throughout the 19th century, peaking in ∼1850. The large number of charcoal hearths in this region is a relic of >150 years of widespread iron production. In this study, we describe the architecture and soil stratigraphy of 26 charcoal hearths in Litchfield County. This contribution aims to (1) compare soils that comprise the charcoal hearths with “natural” adjacent soils, (2) measure the thickness of topsoil developed upon the hearths, and (3) characterize the stratigraphy associated with these features. Results indicate that the black topsoils overlying the charcoal hearths contain residual charcoal and are on average 2.6 times thicker than adjacentCambisols. Charcoal hearths display two ormore black, charcoal-rich strata separated by layers of reddish-brown soil low in charcoal content indicating multiple episodes of use.We also find that many charcoal hearths have been stabilized with boulders on the downslope side during construction and repeated use.Overall, the results presented here provide significant information regarding the construction, use, and associated impacts of earthen platforms for charcoal production in the northeastUnited States, with further relevance to other areas where historical charcoal production occurred.
Knowledge of the position of archaeological remains in the surface relief provides important basic information for archaeological survey design and interpretation. Geomorphological processes in (pre)history may have resulted in a modification of the local relief around archaeological sites, especially in areas that are prone to sediment erosion and relocation, such as sheet sand and dune landscapes. In this study, we reconstructed and analysed the palaeorelief of an archaeological excavation site in an inland dune area in southern Brandenburg, Germany. The remains of two Mesolithic sites were documented in the archaeological excavations and found to be associated with a buried soil horizon. To gather information on the relief of the buried soil surface, we used a combination of sedimentological and pedological profile descriptions along archaeological survey trenches and geophysical prospection with ground penetrating radar supplemented with microdrone photography and photogrammetry, global positioning system (GPS) surveys, and analysis of LiDAR-based elevation models. A digital elevation model of the buried surface was generated and analysed using a geographical information system (GIS). A comparison of the palaeosurface model with the recent surface elevation model shows that sand remobilization resulted in a considerable reshaping of the relief. Further, an analysis of the buried surface model shows that the relief position of the two archaeological sites in the study area was considerably more prominent in relation to the corresponding buried soil surface than in relation to the recent surface morphology. The results affirm the significance of Holocene sediment relocation for the local surface morphology and the importance of considering such relief modifications in archaeological surveys.
Various sources provide information about land use history and landscape transformation. For a variety of reasons, the quality of information differs and is often discontinuous or incomplete. In this interdisciplinary study we take advantage of comprehensive archaeological data gathered by large-scale excavations that were necessary because of opencast lignite mining in Lusatia, Brandenburg, Germany. By using a GIS we integrate these archaeological findings with results from archival and literature studies, from historical maps, from landforms and soils as well as from analyses of shaded-relief maps derived from up-to-date LiDAR data. The long-term aim is to develop a palaeoenvironmental model and thus to reconstruct landscape changes caused by human activities. The focus of the study is the Peitz ironwork in SE Brandenburg, which was a large consumer of commodities for about 300 years. During the time it operated, extensive transformations are supposed to have affected the landscape in the vicinity because of wood consumption and especially charcoal production. Digital datasets about forested areas for different timespans reconstructed from historical maps were made available. In combination with dendrochronological dating of charred trees, the spatiotemporal dimension of charcoal kilns was determined. Also, sites of former bog iron ore mining could be identified. Moreover, the different sources contain further information about other forms of land uses such as agriculture, pastoralism and even viticulture. In conclusion we can highlight that the mosaic of past land use systems is different from the modern structure but that major changes in the forests have been retained.
At the former Diplomat Mine near Forestburg, Alberta, Canada we find a diverse soil landscape which can help to conceptualize factors and processes controlling initial pedogenesis and soil distribution on very young landforms in prairie environments. Due to differing reclamation practices in the 1950s and landslides occurring after spoil dumping, four areas can be distinguished by GoogleMaps/LiDAR evaluation and onsite field survey: (i) not-mined, (ii) stock piled and unreclaimed, (iii) stock piled and reclaimed and (iv) affected by post-mining geomorphodynamics and quasi-natural redeposition. The parent material for areas (ii) to (iv) was initially dumped by spreaders but only (ii) didn’t undergo further change. Landscape (iii) has seen levelling of the piles by heavy machinery. Features of landscape (iv) are formed by reshaping the originally dumped and levelled structures. This last landscape unit marks the rim of
the former mine adjacent to the river valley. In practice, mining activities formed new valley slopes. In contrast
to the naturally developed slopes the mine slopes were less stable. Vegetation, which could have hindered slope
wash erosion, was missing after dumping the spoil slopes. Slopes were very steep (or practically undercut) and
therefore, substrates were naturally re-located by mass movements such as sliding and slumping. Characteristic
sliding and slumping structures can be identified in the close-ups of the LiDAR images. Both processes, mass movement and slope wash erosion, may have overlapped. Landscape (ii) is the most contrasting one. Dumped stock piles formed elongated, curved and steep ridges. These landforms do not have a natural analogue but clearly show their technological origin. Most interesting are differences in vegetation. South and southwest facing slopes are covered with grassland whereas north and northeast facing slopes are covered with aspen trees. Some of the ditches are filled with water and form small elongated ponds. The characteristic geomorphology of the prairie can be found in landscape (i). Distinct differences are found in properties and types of soils in these four landscapes. Natural soils and pile soils characteristically differ in parent material and soil horizons. No information is gathered yet for the reclaimed soils and the landslides soils due to prohibited access. However, based on what we find at the former Diplomat Mine we can conclude that distribution, development and properties of unreclaimed soils in historical open cast mines in Alberta are primarily controlled by parent material and topography. The geomorphological set-up is dominating the trajectory of vegetation development and post-mining geomorphodynamics. Contrasting slope aspects determine micro climatic conditions and lead to different vegetation types. This has likely had an effect on soil development and soil properties (especially carbon stocks). Further studies will be conducted to quantify these differing soil properties to refine this conceptual model of initial pedogenesis and soil distribution on very young landforms in the prairie landscapes.