Secondary succession in two abandoned landfills in east-central Kansas.

Abstract

Our society discards solid waste into landfills and covers them over with soil. until recently the policy has been "out of sight, out of mind". Over the years large amounts of waste have forced the closing of many landfills with little thought about what will become of these landfills. My study compared two abandoned landfills of different ages to a native prairie. From July of 1990 through July of 1991, I compared the soil characteristics, vegetative cover, and small mammal populations on landfills in Lyon County to a native prairie site in Chase County in east-central Kansas. The soil bulk density of the prairie was significantly lower than that of the landfills and soil pH was significantly different among all sites. The percent of sand, silt, and clay at the landfills was significantly different than that of the prairie site. The richness of forbs decreased and the richness of grasses increased with succession. The grass biomass was significantly lower in the most recently abandoned landfill, and the biomass of forbs was significantly lower in the prairie site. The total biomass was significantly higher in the oldest landfill than the other sites. Small mammals were not evenly distributed among sites, and relative abundance of all small mammals was highest in the oldest landfill and lowest in the native prairie. The high relative abundance of a different small mammal species at each site may be explained by vegetative cover and prevalence of different forbs and grasses. The effects I studied suggested that old landfill succession to a native prairie does not differ greatly from that of any other disturbance on the prairie. However, a broader study including factors such as ground water and deep (2 to 4 m) soil cores may show landfill succession to be unique among prairie disturbances because of the depth of its effects.