A Study of Plant Succession on Three TVA Fly Ash Pits in Middle Tennessee

Studies of plant succession on three abandoned Tennessee Valley Authority “fly ash pits” in Middle Tennessee were made using the quadrat method of sampling. The pits varied in age from 6 months to 8 years. Dominants occurred in the following sequence: pit I (6 months), Polygonum pensylvanicum and Paspalum pubiflorum, with phenotypic dominants being Erigeron canadensis and Bromus inermis; pit II (3 years), Bromus inermis and Pyrrhopappus carolinianus, with phenotypic dominants being Bromus inermis, Andropogon virginicus, and Populus deltoides; pit III (8 years), Solidago spp. and Melilotus alba, with the phenotypic dominants being the two former taxa plus Populus deltoides, Salix interior, and Salix nigra. Since no studies of this specific nature have been carried out in the past, comparisons of vegetational responses are difficult to make. The data on plant succession recorded on the “fly ash pits” is considerably different from past studies on abandoned cropland in Middle Tennessee and, for that matter, in surrounding states.