Abstract
We compared species composition of the understory that spontaneously developed in seven types of forest stands planted as reclamation measure in Sokolov coal-mining district. Six types of the stands were plantations, each dominated by one tree genus and one type was unreclaimed spontaneously growing stands.
Understory composition differed considerably among the types of forest stands and was significantly explained by the sixteen measured environmental variables, which were also affected by the type of forest stand. Therefore, all of the explained variability in understory composition could be attributed to the type of forest stand, which apparently affected the understory by its impact on soil formation.
Our study also showed that even in the absence of reclamation measures, mining sites can be successfully restored due to spontaneous succession.