Development of Success Criteria for Reestablishment of Native Flora Habitats on Coal Mine Rehabilitation Areas in Australia

Rehabilitation success after mining is difficult to assess. It has often been judged by a superficial resemblance to a local vegetation type, whether that be pasture, forest, native woodland, or wetland. Where agricultural production is desired it can be assessed by the relative productivity of the land compared to similar unmined land with similar inputs. In Australia there is an increasing desire to create sustainable native vegetation communities after mining. These are seen to provide an option which requires minimal ongoing maintenance and allows flexibility for subsequent land uses. In setting completion criteria, regulatory authorities tend to set vegetation composition, richness, density, and cover values; however, they also expect that the ecosystem will be functional and often stipulate that it will be sustainable and require minimal maintenance. There is a desire to assess rehabilitation success more objectively, and increasingly the focus is on functional aspects of the rehabilitated ecosystems.