Good news! Chopped down tropical forests can regrow way faster than we thought

This is good news I learned several years ago on Abandoned Mine Land. There was a large area next to a stream (several hundred acres) that had a cap of several feet of mine spoil spread over it that nothing would grow in because of the heave metals and other poor properties of the spoil. What struck me about the site was several ancient forest stumps in the area, +5 feet diameter.

Long story short, the applicant excavated the spoil carefully keeping the virgin soil in place and all the native vegetation grew back in one season. It’s amazing roots, seed, or whatever can regenerate after over a hundred years of being capped with hazardous material.