BULLETIN FLORIDA STATE MUSEUM


of its multiple use, sustained-yield capabilities including sustained tim-
ber and forage production, wildlife and watershed management, and rec-
reation. Reclamation would .. be aimed at reestablishing .. the same
type of plant and aquatic communities with the same interspersion of
community types, i.e. the pine flatwoods, cypress swamps, creek swamps
and lakes .. (U.S. Bureau of Land Management 1979: 1-6). Though
the original statement emphasized as workable many specific reclama-
tion practices, the supplement stated (p. I-8) that "the present primitive
state-of-the-art of phosphate mine reclamation precludes the evaluation
of the potential impact of future mining and reclamation of the Osceola
by merely extrapolating present technology to future conditions. Re-
search is needed to provide the technological base required to restore to
[sic] the 'natural' system of the Osceola." Our study shows that establish-
ing some kind of forested wildlife habitat is certainly possible, but achieving
specifically targeted habitats that have never before been recreated will
require experimental engineering of soil structure and quality and of hy-
drologic regime. Some habitats, such as pine flatwoods over soil hard-
pan, may not be restorable in a reasonable framework of time or money.

 BIOLOGICAL FACTORS AFFECTING VALUES AND USES OF MINE-
 CREATED LANDS

 Of the three distinct groups of treatments in this study (clay waste
areas, unreclaimed overburden, and reclamation with an overburden cap),
the latter two support valuable biological communities and have high
potential for natural or self-restoration. The clay waste areas appear to
form ecosystems with limited value for wildlife and for future land uses.
 We have documented the successful, unsubsidized development of
hardwood forest on overburden spoil piles. The primary attribute of this
treatment is the soil itself. Overburden consists of about 80 percent sand
and 20 percent clay; it exceeds native soil in values for CaO, MgO, and
PO, but is deficient in K20 (Hawkins 1979). Importantly, very little ni-
trogen is present. The invading biota invests free services that enhance
succession, with plants rebuilding topsoil and wildlife dispersing seeds
to reintroduce and diversify the plants. The earliest plant colonization is
mainly of species with seeds strongly dispersed by autumn winds-dog
fennel, grasses, and Baccharis. Significantly, most invading woody spe-
cies have animal-dispersed seeds, whereas few species with water-dis-
persed or weakly wind-dispersed seeds become reestablished. An early
invader, wax myrtle, plays a special role by hosting a symbiotic root bac-
terium (Frankia) responsible for nitrogen fixation. This actinomycete cat-
alyzes the fixation of dinitrogen from the atmosphere and converts it to
ammonia (Torrey 1978). The nitrogen gives a great advantage to the pio-


VOL. 30 NO. 3