Effect of various wind protection measures on phytoremediation in coal mines of arid areas

Cleistogenes songorica is a native desert grass species with significant potential for dryland mine rehabilitation. However, its establishment and revegetation effectiveness are highly affected by dryland winds and sandy conditions. This study evaluated the impact of different wind protection measures on the establishment of C. songorica and its revegetation in a dryland coal mine. Six different windbreaks were tested: control, ecological stick, grass curtain, grass square, non-woven fabric + ecological stick, and grass curtain + ecological stick. The results are as follows: Various wind protection measures effectively reduced wind speed, with the grass square performing best, achieving a ground roughness of 0.15 and a wind protection effect of 83%. The grass square, ecological stick, and ecological stick + non-woven treatments significantly (P < 0.05) increased the establishment rate (0.5%, 0.6%, and 0.4%, respectively) and density (60.4%, 55.7%, and 45.7%, respectively) of C. songorica during the early establishment stage compared with the control. The vegetation survey revealed that plots with windbreak measures had significantly increased vegetation cover, with the non-woven + ecological stick treatment resulting in a 31.8% higher vegetation cover than the control. These results indicate that the grass square and non-woven fabric + ecological stick treatments can reduce wind speed, increase the establishment rate, density, and vegetation cover of awnless cryptomeria, and offer valuable insights for revegetating arid northwestern mining areas affected by strong wind and sand.