Ecological Engineering 95 (2016) 198205

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Ecological Engineering
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ecoleng

Carbon sequestration in y ash dumps: Comparative assessment of

three plant association
Vimal Chandra Pandey , Nayan Sahu, Soumit K. Behera, Nandita Singh
Plant Ecology and Environmental Science Division, CSIRNational Botanical Research Institute, Lucknow 226001, India

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 5 November 2015
Received in revised form 24 April 2016
Accepted 14 June 2016
Keywords:
Carbon sequestration
Fly ash dumps
Naturally vegetated site
CO2 ux

a b s t r a c t
The aim of the present study was to measure in-situ y ash (FA) CO2 ux from naturally vegetated
and non-vegetated sites of FA dumps for identifying potential plant species for carbon sequestration by
using an automated soil CO2 ux system. The FA CO2 ux was found to be higher in vegetated site than
non-vegetated site due to higher root density and respiration. The presence of organic carbon, microbial
activity and root biomass are important indicators for sequestration of atmospheric CO2 in naturally
vegetated site of FA dumps because of the fresh FA dumps are supposed to be initially free of organic
carbon. Furthermore, in the naturally vegetated site, the FA CO2 efux rates were least in Saccharum
spontaneum (lower by 84.29%) and Prosopis juliora (lower by 92.09%) association as compared to Typha
latifolia association. Thus, the eld results proved that S. spontaneum and P. juliora associations are
potentially suitable for sequestering atmospheric CO2 in the fresh FA deposited sites.
2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
The carbon sequestration and CO2 ux assessment was directed
by the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, which was
based on assessment to quantify (1) the amount of carbon stored in
ecosystems, (2) the capacity of ecosystems to sequester carbon, and
(3) the rate of CO2 uxes in and out of the ecosystems (EISA, 2007).
A number of summits have been organized on the carbon sequestration and its management ranging from the Stockholm to Kyoto
protocol. Due to increasing demand and dependence on coalbased
thermal power stations for electricity, we are parallely increasing
the area and number of y ash (FA) deposits, which are serious
ecological concern. These FA dumps can be used as a potential sink
for carbon sequestration. Because, these dumps are supposed to be
initially free of organic carbon, and therefore organic carbon developed in the substrate resulted from the plant growth since the last
ash deposition. It is well known that vegetation and soil are major
sources for sequestering CO2 from the atmosphere.
Carbon sequestration means using plants to capture CO2 from
the atmosphere or to capture anthropogenic CO2 from the major
sources such as coal-based thermal power stations and then storing it as carbon for long-term in form of biomass (stems and roots)
of plants as well as in substrate. Soil CO2 ux is an important compo-

Corresponding author.
E-mail address: vimalcpandey@gmail.com (V.C. Pandey).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoleng.2016.06.010
0925-8574/ 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

nent of the total atmospheric carbon balance. It is a very signicant

variable in the study of carbon sequestration. Soil respiration is
also a vital indicator of the biological health and vigor of a soil.
Soil respiration represents a signicant source of carbon ux to
the atmosphere. So, carbon sequestration can be considered by
measuring soil CO2 ux. Soil CO2 ux (soil respiration) includes
respiration from the roots (autotrophic respiration) and soil microbial respiration (heterotrophic respiration). Thus, soil respiration
depends upon soil microbial activity and root respiration. It acts as
a major component of the global carbon cycle (Law et al., 2002).
The majority of soil C pool is made via litterfall, root exudates and
root mortality (VanVeen et al., 1991). Faunal mortality also adds
C in the soil C pool. Soil microbial respiration is sensitive to sitespecic environmental conditions such as nature and abundance of
the substrate, climatic factors (mainly soil temperature and water
content) (Ewel et al., 1987; Raich and Schlesinger, 1992; Lomander
et al., 1998). In addition, some other important factors such as
availability of oxygen, types of microorganism, faunal abundance
and activity also inuence the processes of soil microbial respiration (Nakadai et al., 2002). Therefore, the assessments of CO2 ux
in substrate of vegetation have a great potential as an indicator
of ecosystem processes such as metabolic activities in substrate,
persistence and decomposition of plant residue in substrate and
conversion of substrate organic carbon into atmospheric CO2 (Ryan
and Law, 2005).
In India and abroad, FA dumping sites of the coal-based thermal
power stations cause severe degradation of environment. These FA

V.C. Pandey et al. / Ecological Engineering 95 (2016) 198205

dumpsites are characterized by high pH, a low content of humus,

high concentrations of soluble salts, toxic elements, deciencies
of N and P, lack of microbial activity, natural compaction and
cemented layers that restrict root growth (Pandey et al., 2009;
Pandey and Singh, 2010; Ram and Masto, 2014). The revegetation
process of FA dumps is not easy because of above described FA
factors that limit the establishment and growth of plant communities. However, some naturally growing plant species colonize FA
dumps due to their characters such as drought-resistant, tolerance
to high pH, toxic metals and other local adverse conditions (Pandey
and Singh, 2011). In addition, some other characters (i.e. perennial,
extensive root system, self-propagation, unpalatable and potential
carbon sequestering nature) of plants must be associated during
revegetation approach for sustainability of FA ecosystem. Potential
carbon sequestering plant species may be screened through the
assessment of CO2 ux among natural vegetation occurring on FA
dumps.
A number of studies have been focused on the CO2 ux characteristics of the substrate of forests ecosystem (Kim et al., 2010),
farmland ecosystem (Du et al., 2007), alpine meadow (Chang et al.,
2009), municipal solid waste landlls (Sanci and Panarello, 2012)
and rehabilitated coalmine overburden dumps (Mukhopadhyay
and Maiti, 2014), however no report available on CO2 ux in naturally rehabilitated FA ecosystem from India. The main objective of
this study was to assess CO2 ux in naturally rehabilitated area of
FA ecosystem for identifying potential species for C sequestration.

2. Materials and methods

2.1. Site description
The study site is a FA dump of Feroze Gandhi Unchahar Thermal
Power Plant (FGUTPP). FA dumps located in Arkha Village (25.849
N, 81.304 E), Unchahar region of Raebareli District, Uttar Pradesh,
India was chosen for diurnal FA CO2 ux measurements in natural vegetation and non-vegetated area of FA dumps. The climate is
tropical semiarid with three different season (summer, winter and
monsoon) The air temperature up to 44.5 C during summer season, which drops to minimum temperature of 4.1 C during winter
season. The monsoon sets-in between June to October, and most
of the rainfall is achieved during these months. The total annual
rainfall ranges from 825 to 1050 mm. The elevation of this area is
117 m asl (Pandey et al., 2015b). The Arkha dumpsite had a rich
ora with good diversity. The dominant vegetation was Saccharum
spontaneum L., Typha latifolia L., Prosopis juliora (Sw.) DC., Ipomoea

199

carnea Jacq., S. bengalense Retz., Calotropis procera (Aiton) Dryand.,

Dactyloctenium aegyptium (L.) Willd., Desmodium triorum (L.) DC.
and Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers. The seedling and sapling of P. juliora
(Sw.) DC., was also observed in naturally vegetated area of Arkha
dumpsite, which is a good sign of adaptation of this tree species
on FA dumps. The scattered group of I. carnea Jacq., was also seen
in Arkha dumpsite. Arkha dumpsite represents dry condition and
covered with good vegetation cover, which leads to phytostabilization of dumps for mitigation of the FA dust pollution and leaching
of toxic elements.
2.2. Experimental design
FA CO2 ux and ambient microclimatic measurements were
undertaken on three dominant plant species association i.e. S. spontaneum, T. latifolia and P. juliora as well as control site on Arkha FA
dumps (g. 1). Individual control was taken for each of the vegetation types. FA CO2 ux, ambient CO2 concentration, temperature,
moisture and relative humidity were measured for each vegetation
type and control site with automated LI-COR 8100 soil CO2 ux system (LI-COR, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA). All the measurements were
taken on clear, bright and sunny days with no overcast and precipitation and minimal air turbulence for minimizing subsequent
sources of error. The root and shoot biomass of all vegetation were
determined after drying in a hot-air oven at 60 C for four days. For
addressing the spatial heterogeneity and obtaining reliable mean
site CO2 uxes, diel measurements at 5 different locations per vegetation type were undertaken. Microclimatic parameters measured
included photosynthetically active radiation (PAR; mol m2 s1 ),
FA and air temperature(s) (AT; C, FT; C), absolute humidity (AH;
mmol mol1 ) and CO2 ; mol mol1.
2.3. FA CO2 ux measurement
Closed dynamic automated LI-COR 8100 soil CO2 ux system
(LI-COR, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA) was used for measuring diurnal FA
CO2 ux rates (mol CO2 m2 s1 ) in each vegetation cover. All the
measurements were undertaken using survey chamber (8100-103;
20 cm diameter) attached to the LI-8100 analyzer. For each measurement standard PVC collars (approx. 20 cm dia.) were inserted
deep into the FA and checked for any air gaps directly beneath
the collars and also for any CO2 diffusion leakage by adjusting
the chamber closure period, ux calculation time and offset value.
For accurate FA CO2 ux measurements minimal disturbance was
caused to rooting system and microbial ora that have an impact on

Fig. 1. The measurement of FA CO2 ux of the dominant plant species [A] P. juliora L. and [B] S. spontaneum L. growing naturally on FA dumps.

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V.C. Pandey et al. / Ecological Engineering 95 (2016) 198205

CO2 production and transport inside the FA prole. CO2 efux rates
were measured as linear increment in CO2 concentration with time
and were computed using Soil ux Pro and LI-8100 le viewer software by conguring measurement length, dead band, purge time
and measurement delay as 120, 45, 45 and 45 s respectively for each
cycle of measurement. Flux measurements were made every 4 min
and a total of approx. 10 readings were logged to the LI-8100 every
hour. The air ow rate was set to maximum to ensure adequate
mixing of the air within the ux chamber.

nitrogen were estimated by KEL PLUS Nitrogen estimation system

(Classic DX, Pelican Equipment). Available phosphorus in FA with
high pH (7) was determined by Olsen method using sodium bicarbonate as extracting agent (Singh et al., 2007). Microbial biomass
carbon (MBC) was determined by the fumigation-extraction methods as described by Vance et al. (1987).

2.6. Microclimatic measurements

2.4. Fly ash temperature
Fly ash (FA) temperatures were measured in three different
combinations i.e.; at FA surface (through temperature probe in the
LI-8100 chamber), temperature at 5 cm (by temperature probe LI101) and at 25 cm depth (LI-8100-201) attached to the auxiliary
sensor interface and integrated to the analyzer control unit in order
to access the role of temperature on the CO2 efuxes through FA
proles.
2.5. Physicochemical properties of different FA dumpsites

Statistical analyses were undertaken by SigmaPlot version 11.0

(Systat Software, Inc. USA) and IBM SPSS version 21.0 (Armonk, NY,
IBM Corp.). Polynomial Quadratic regression function (PQRF) was
employed to check the effect the effect of various abiotic factors on
CO2 efux rates. Pearson two tailed correlations were also used to
check for correlation between different measured parameters.

-2 -1
s )

0.8

2.7. Statistical analysis

0.7

2.6

Fly as h CO2 efflux ( m ol CO2m

Fly as h CO2 efflux ( m ol CO2m

-2 -1
s )

Fifteen FA samples were collected from the rhizosphere of population of the dominant species (i.e. S. spontaneum, P. juliora and
T. latifolia) and pooled to reduce the spatial heterogeneity of the
FA, if any. After that three replicates from these pooled samples
were taken to examine the FA properties. All the samples were collected from sites (015 cm) within each species association (along
with control) and were transported to laboratory for further measurements. The samples were air dried and sieved with 2.0 mm
mesh to prepare homogenized samples. The pH and electrical conductivity (EC) of FA were measured as per Pandey et al. (2015b).
Total organic carbon (TOC) was estimated by di-chromate oxidation method (Walkley and Black, 1934). Available nitrogen and total

Diel variations in microclimatic variables (PAR; mol m2 s1 ,

AT; C, FT; C, CO2; mol mol1 and AH; mmol mol1 ) were measured at each of the four sites within Arkha FA dump. All sensors
(except FT C) were positioned 1 m above surface. PAR measurements were made with (LI-COR, LI-191), Air temperature (AT; C)
with (LI-COR, LI-101) and FA temperature (FT; C) with (LI-COR,
LI-103). Ambient CO2 and ambient humidity (AH; mmol mol1 )
measurements were made with LI-COR, LI-840 CO2 /H2 0 gas analyzer. All the sensors were integrated to a single data logger
(LI-1400; LI-COR, Lincoln, NE, USA) and data were measured simultaneously for each parameter every 15 s and logged as per minute
average values.

2.4
2.2

0.6

2.0

0.5

1.8
1.6

0.4

1.4

Control Site
0.3
07:00

11:00

15:00

19:00

P. j uli flora

1.2
07:00

11:00

-2 -1
s )

4.4
4.2
4.0
3.8
3.6
3.4
3.2
3.0

S. sponta neum

2.8
07:00

11:00
Tim e (hou r)

19:00

Tim e (hour)

4.6

15:00

19:00

Fly as h CO2 efflux ( m ol CO2m

Fly as h CO2 efflux ( m ol CO2m

-2 -1
s )

Tim e (hour)

15:00

30
28
26
24
22
20
18
T. la tifoli a
16
07:00

11:00

15:00

Tim e (hour)

Fig. 2. Diurnal proles of FA CO2 efux in three different plant species association along with control site on FA dumps.

19:00

V.C. Pandey et al. / Ecological Engineering 95 (2016) 198205

201

Fig. 3. Diurnal prole of microclimatic parameters on FA dumps.

3. Results and discussion

3.1. FA CO2 ux in rehabilitated FA dumps
Diurnal proles of FA CO2 efuxes in three different species
association along with control site on FA dumps are represented
in Fig. 2. The considerable variation in high-frequency diel FA
CO2 efux rates were observed with T. latifolia vegetation showing highest (28.71 mol m2 s1 ) rate among all the associations,
while P. juliora associations reported minimum CO2 efux rates
(2.27 mol m2 s1 ). S. spontaneum showed 49.66% more efux
rates as compared to P. juliora and about 84.29% lower efuxes in
contrast to T. latifolia vegetation. Average maximum control efux
rates were 0.77 mol CO2 m2 s1 showing biochemically inactive
FA prole (due to lack of plant root and associated microbial and
insect fauna). One way ANOVA and Turkey test (pairwise comparison versus Control site and among different species association)
at P < 0.0001 applied also showed distinct signicant differences
among different species associations and therefore conrms the
results at highest signicant level.

3.2. Temperature
The diurnal variation in ambient air temperature at FA dumps
is presented in Fig. 3. Average ambient air temperatures across all
sites ranged from 29.81 C to 31.46 C with maximum average temperature of 36.26 4.56 C in control site. There was lack of much
canopy cover across sites except for P. juliora association which
had small canopies leading to more or less equal heating of FA
surface (as there was very little light interception by the ora). Surface FA temperatures varied between 28.27 C32.86 C across sites
with a minimum of 18.86 C. Multiple linear regressions (2nd order)
plotted for CO2 efuxes versus temperature (ambient air) showed
no signicant correlations for control site. However T. latifolia, P.
juliora and S. spontaneum associations showed respective signicant correlations of R2 = 0.66, R2 = 0.60 and 0.64 against CO2 efuxes
(g. 4). S. spontaneum and P. juliora associations showed inverse

correlations with ambient air temperatures as compared to T. latifolia, which showed positive correlations with temperature (Pearson
two tailed correlation). The FA prole under P. juliora and S. spontaneum associations observed dry condition due to lack of moisture
and higher temperatures leading to inhibition of microbial respiration (Rastogi et al., 2002), and resulting in lower CO2 ux. FA
covered with T. latifolia association showed inverse correlations
with temperatures, favoring higher soil CO2 efuxes. T. latifolia
associations observed favorable moisture requirement leading to
higher soil CO2 efuxes being near to the reservoir area of FA
dumps. FA dumps at 25 cm below surface level are less affected
by incoming solar radiation, as radiations hitting the surface of
dump penetrate less depth, leading to little diurnal change among
all vegetation cover at deeper horizon.
3.3. Humidity (%)
T. latifolia species association showed maximum ambient RH
levels (about 78%) and a negative correlation with CO2 efuxes
due to more amount of FA moisture levels however multiple linear regression with CO2 efux rate showed highest regression
(R2 = 0.64) among all species associations (g. 4). In T. latifolia association, availability of more water vapor displaced and diffused
other gas molecules in presence of higher ambient air temperature leading to linear decrease in CO2 efux rates with increasing
RH (at more or less static temperature within FA dumps). Respective R2 values of 0.58 and 0.55 were obtained with S. spontaneum
and P. juliora associations (g. 4).
3.4. CO2 concentration
Diurnal variations in ambient CO2 concentration were between
386.86 and 398.63 molmol1 with maximum ambient CO2 conc.
during the early daytime hours which decreased progressively with
solar time as plants started Carbon xation cycle. As the vegetation
was sparse the difference between the maximum and minimum
ambient CO2 levels diurnally was not much as compared to thick

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V.C. Pandey et al. / Ecological Engineering 95 (2016) 198205

Fig. 4. Multiple linear regressions of FA CO2 efux against different parameters in three different plant species association.
Table 1
Physicochemical properties of different y ash dumpsites.
Parameters

Bare Fly ash

pH
EC (S cm1 )
WHC (%)
TOC (%)
AP (g g1 )
AN (%)
TN (%)
MBC (g g1 )

8.90
150.0
68.15
0.00
7.36
0.00
0.03
0.00

0.10
6.5
1.25
0.00
0.25
0.00
0.00
0.00

S. spontaneum
7.80
101.4
65.85
1.11
23.13
0.02
0.02
222.02

0.19
8.18
2.45
0.08
0.94
0.01
0.00
2.50

P. juliora
8.35
186.7
66.65
0.55
5.34
0.02
0.04
134.87

T. latifolia
0.12
5.65
2.10
0.06
0.19
0.01
0.00
1.55

8.65
160.1
67.55
0.35
21.10
0.00
0.02
96.21

0.63
5.05
1.70
0.08
3.93
0.00
0.00
1.25

trolling CO2 efuxes. The high intensity PAR levels also indirectly
affected relative humidity levels (inverse correlation) by heating up
of ambient air (positive correlation) thus having a substantial role
in transport of CO2 through the FA prole. Optimal PAR levels also
aided in maximum leaf Photosynthetic rates among the different
species which lead to greater carboxylation efciency and translocation of photosynthates to roots thereby increasing both below
and above ground biomass accumulation by plants which was followed by subsequent increase in root respiration contributing to
the total CO2 efux rate.
3.6. Hydrogen ion activity (pH)

forested vegetation. Also there was not any signicant difference

between the sites in terms of CO2 gradient. S. spontaneum and T.
latifolia showed R2 values of 0.56 and 0.60 respectively on tting
polynomial quadratic function for ambient CO2 gradients and CO2
efux rates (g. 4). Pearson (two tailed) correlation coefcient of
0.73 (maximum) was observed for S. spontaneum followed by 0.55
for P. juliora association (Table 2).
3.5. Photosynthetically active radiation (PAR)
Maximum PAR of 1728 molm2 s1 (around 12:30 p.m.) was
observed among all the sites. Typical bell shaped curve was
obtained showing diurnal variation in PAR levels (g. 3). There were
not many uctuations in PAR levels due to absence of dense canopy
cover if any there any were due to passing clouds. Non-signicant
linear regression coefcients were obtained for all the species association between PAR and CO2 efuxes. PAR did not have a direct role
on the CO2 efuxes although an indirect effect by heating up of FA
prole (up to few top layers) was quite evident. Infrared fraction
of PAR caused both heating up of ambient air and surface FA layer
(PAR penetration was too few top centimeters of FA prole were
the CO2 movement was most predominant) thereby indirectly con-

The pH of FA varies depending on the source of the coal. FA is

known to be both acidic and alkaline. On initial mixing of FA with
water alkaline or acidic reaction is yielded. The alkaline lechate
derived is normally as a result of hydrolysis of Ca and Mg oxides
that form during coal combustion. Maximum pH (8.90 0.10) was
observed in abandoned FA in control sites which was subsequently
narrowed due to geochemical buffering with time in different vegetation. T. latifolia associations reported maximum pH (8.65 0.63)
while S. spontaneum showed minimum pH values (7.80 0.19)
among different species clusters. The pH has a marked effect on
the growth and proliferation of soil microbes. In soils with pH 3.0,
212-fold less CO2 efux has been observed than the soils at pH 4.0
(Sitaula and Bakken, 1995). This is attributed to adverse effect of
low pH on soil microbial activity, which contributes to lower respiration rate and consequently lower CO2 evolution. Kowalenko et al.
(1978) have reported an increase in CO2 evolution with pH. However, soil pH beyond 7.0 adversely affected CO2 emission. At pH
8.7, CO2 emission reduced by 18% compared to that at pH 7.0 and
when the pH was increased to 10.0 the extent of reduction in CO2
emission was 83%. In general when alkaline Coal combustion Products (CCP) leachate is open to atmospheric CO2 the pH of the liquid

Table 2
Pearson correlation ratio between different measured FA CO2 ux parameters of different species in FA dumps.
Parameters

Efux Control
(CO2 mol
mol1 )
0.609b

TFlyashTemp.Control(15 cm)

0.432b
0.248a

Efux Prosopis

(CO2 mol mol1 )

TChamber Prosopis

( C)
TFlyashTemp.
Prosopis (15 cm)
Efux Saccharum
(CO2 mol mol1 )
Tchamber Saccharum

( C)
TFlyashTemp.
Saccharum (15 cm)
Efux Typha

TFlyashTemp.Control (15 cm)

Prosopis
(CO2 mol
mol1 )

0.532b

Tchamber

Prosopis
(15cm)

Saccharum

( C)

0.670b

0.944b

0.204

0.314b

0.309b

0.653b

0.191

0.302b

0.651b

0.629b

0.783b

0.060

0.532b

0.714b

0.409b

0.634b

0.989b

0.000

0.490b

0.966b

0.685b

0.425b

0.109

0.989b
0.125

0.687b
0.578b

0.909b
0.480b

0.443b
0.474b

0.956b
0.949b

RH (%)

0.281b

PAR (mol m2 s1 )

0.094

0.875b
0.472b

0.205

0.832b

CO2ambient

TFlyashTemp. Efux
Saccharum
(CO2 mol
mol1 )

TFlyashTemp. Efux
Saccharum
Typha
(CO2 mol
(15 cm)
mol1 )

Tchamber

TyashTemp.Tair ( C)

Typha

( C)

Typha
(15 cm)

CO2ambient RH (%)
(mol
mol1 )

PAR
(mol
m2 s1 )

0.391b

0.559b

(15 cm)
Tair ( C)

TChamber Prosopis
( C)

0.054

0.375b

(CO2 molmol1 )
Tchamber Typha ( C)
TFlyashTemp. Typha

Efux

V.C. Pandey et al. / Ecological Engineering 95 (2016) 198205

TChamberControl

( C)

TChamberControl
( C)

0.356b

0.134

0.218a

0.771b
0.062

0.057

0.018

0.629b

0.519b

0.405b

0.611b

0.076

0.237a

0.280b

0.020

0.679b
0.390b

0.935b
0.494b

0.164

0.028

0.969b
0.605b

0.558b

0.561b

0.496b

0.634b
0.294b

0.698b

0.559b
0.552b

0.856b
0.874b

0.694b
0.700b

0.694b
0.736b

0.942b

0.375b

0.529b

0.818b

0.308b

0.936b

0.188

0.524b

0.789b

0.280b

0.933b

0.483b
0.559b
0.513b

0.782b
0.222a

0.865b
0.420b

0.488b

0.514b

0.719b

0.154

0.911b
0.550b

0.117

0.206

0.209

0.965b
0.683b

0.459b

0.634b

0.100

0.935b

0.316b
0.143

(mol mol1 )

Fly ash Temp.at5 cm

( C)
a
b

0.422b
0.889b
0.487b

0.715b

0.760b

0.563b

0.372b
0.728b

0.276b
0.543b

0.815b

0.895b
0.493b
0.868b

0.721b
0.974b

0.757b

Correlation is signicant at 0.05 level (2 tailed).

Correlation is signicant at 0.01 level (2 tailed).

203

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V.C. Pandey et al. / Ecological Engineering 95 (2016) 198205

Table 3
Biomass (tons/hectare) of the studied vegetation on y ash deposits.
Plant species

Above ground
dry biomass

Below ground
dry biomass

Total
biomass

S. spontaneum
P. juliora
T. latifolia

3.806 0.224
0.516 0.166
0.008 0.006

0.784 0.112
0.231 0.056
0.002 0.006

4.59
0.75
0.01

phase will decrease with time to a pH between 8 and 9 because

of carbonate buffering and consequent precipitation of calcite (Roy
and Berger, 2011).
3.7. Physicochemical properties of different FA dumpsites
The physicochemical characteristics of FA deposits play a major
role in determination of the establishment and growth of the vegetation type (Pandey et al., 2015a). The physicochemical properties
of different FA sites are present in Table 1. The nature of FA of the
vegetated sites was alkaline with an average pH 8.27 0.31 and EC
145.4 6.29 (S cm1), lower than the bare FA pH 8.90 0.10 and
EC150 6.5 (S cm1). Generally, Indian FA is alkaline in nature
due to low sulphur content and the hydroxides as well as carbonates of calcium and magnesium present in coal (Pandey et al., 2009;
Pandey and Singh, 2010). Furthermore, it is noted that the pH of
vegetated area will be lower compared to non-vegetated area or
bare area. The water holding capacity (WHC) of the bare FA was
higher (68.15 1.25%) than the average WHC of the vegetated sites
(66.68 2.08%). The average total organic carbon (TOC) of the vegetated sites was higher (0.67 0.07%) than the TOC of the bare FA
deposits (0.00 0.00%). The average available phosphorus (AP) of
the vegetated sites was higher (16.52 1.69 g g1 ) than the AP
of the bare FA deposits (7.36 0.25 g g1 ). The average available
nitrogen (AN) of the vegetated sites was higher (0.01 0.01%) than
the AN of the bare FA deposits (0.00 0.00%). While the average
total nitrogen (TN) of the vegetated sites was equal (0.03 0.00%)
to the TN of the bare FA deposits (0.03 0.00%). The C and N are
usually present in negligible quantities in FA as they are likely to
be oxidized into gaseous forms during coal combustion (Pandey
et al., 2009; Pandey and Singh, 2010). P is also present in unavailable form (excessive Fe and Al of FA convert soluble P to insoluble P
compounds, which are not readily available to plants) in FA (Pandey
and Singh, 2010). The average microbial biomass carbon (MBC) of
the vegetated sites was higher (151.03 1.77 g g1 ) than the MBC
of the bare FA deposits (0.00 0.00 g g1 ).
3.8. Biomass of the studied vegetation
The importance of biomass of plant species in carbon sequestration has long been known, but very little efforts have been made to
estimate the biomass accumulation and their contribution for carbon sequestration, especially in FA deposited areas. Biomass of the
studied vegetation on FA deposits is given in Table 3. The total dry
biomass of S. spontaneum, P. juliora and T. latifolia were 4.59, 0.75
and 0.01 tons/hectare, respectively. The above and below ground
dry biomass of S. spontaneum was 3.806 0.224 and 0.784 0.112
tons/hectare. While the above and below ground dry biomass
of P. juliora and T. latifolia were 0.516 0.166, 0.008 0.006
and 0.231 0.056, 0.002 0.006 tons/hectare, respectively. The
biomass of the naturally growing vegetation on FA deposit sites
indicates CO2 sequestration in form of root, leaf and stem which
represents long-term C pool. As the above and below ground
biomass, litter, dead wood and soil organic matters are the major
carbon pools in any ecosystem (FAO, 2005; IPCC, 2006). Thus, these
naturally vegetated FA sites are the potential sink of CO2 because
of abandoned FA deposits is free from C content (Pandey et al.,

2009; Pandey and Singh, 2010). In this study, S. spontaneum species

association showed potential C sequestration compared to other
studied plants. In our previous study regarding phytodiversity on
FA deposits, we have reported that S. spontaneum L. was the dominant species and covers the maximum area of FA dumps with the
IVI ranging from 90.80 to 181.77, while T. latifolia L. was major codominant species with the IVI value 25.4523.53 (Pandey et al.,
2015a). Thus, previous results also support that biomass accumulation of dominant plant species is potential source of carbon pool
in the sequestration of atmospheric CO2 in the vicinity of coal-based
thermal power station which also play a signicant role in the CO2
generation.
4. Conclusions
Present study is rst of its kind in identifying high carbon
sequestering vegetation association/system on FA dumps in Indian
scenario. S. spontaneum plantations proved to be very useful in
sequestering large amounts of atmospheric CO2 and storing in the
form of C in its long term carbon pool followed by P. juliora. In our
previous work, S. spontaneum associations were proved for restoration of FA dumps and thus convert these unproductive areas into
functional ecosystems (Pandey et al., 2015a). The CO2 efux rates
were maximum in T. latifolia associations, which releases maximum amount of CO2 gas into atmosphere, leading to lower CO2
sequestration. S. spontaneum species association thus proved to be
efcient in carbon sequestration, sequestering large amounts of
atmospheric CO2 released by thermal power stations, also accumulating high above ground (3.806 0.224 tons/ha) and belowground
biomass (0.784 0.112 tons/ha), respectively. CO2 sequestration
and its storage to long-term carbon pool by S. spontaneum were also
conrmed by higher TOC (1.11 0.08) in contrast to other associations which showed about 3050% lower organic carbon. We
conclude from our ndings that S. spontaneum and P. juliora may
serve as high carbon sequestering species in and around FA deposit
areas, enabling in decrease of one of the major greenhouse gas.
Conict of interest
The authors declare no conict of interest.
Acknowledgements
Financial support given to rst author by Science and Engineering Research Board (No.SR/FTP/ES-96/2012), Govt. of India is
gratefully acknowledged. Authors are also thankful to Director,
CSIR-National Botanical Research Institute, Lucknow for his kind
support.
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