Plant Species Response to Coal Mining Sites in Kogi State
##plugins.themes.bootstrap3.article.main##
Resumo
Coal mining activities are widely recognized for their capacity to alter species composition and ecological stability. This study assessed plant biodiversity responses to coal mining disturbance in the coal belt areas of Kogi East, Kogi State, Nigeria, using species diversity indices as ecological indicators. Vegetation data for this study were collected using line transects and nested quadrats. A total of 48 quadrats (50 × 50 m) were systematically laid along four parallel transects at 10 m intervals across Sites A, B, and C. From these, 24 quadrats were randomly selected using a table of random numbers, with eight quadrats chosen from each site, resulting in a total sample size of 24. Plant species diversity was quantified using the Shannon Wiener diversity index (H′), species richness, and Pielou’s evenness index (J′). Differences in diversity metrics among plot categories were evaluated using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). Results revealed that the control site (Plot C) consistently recorded the highest median values for Shannon diversity (H′ ≈ 3.65), species richness (47.5 species), and evenness (J′ ≈ 0.960), accompanied by relatively low variability (IQRs ≈ 0.180, 8.25, and 0.015, respectively), indicating a stable and well-structured plant community. In contrast, mined plots exhibited lower median diversity values and greater dispersion, with Shannon diversity medians of 3.59 (Plot A) and 3.51 (Plot B), richness medians of 45.5 and 43.5 species, and evenness medians of 0.938 and 0.955, reflecting heterogeneous recovery and ecological instability. However, one-way ANOVA results indicated no statistically significant differences among plot categories for Shannon diversity (F₂,₂₁ = 0.78, p = 0.472), species richness (F₂,₂₁ = 0.37, p = 0.696), or Pielou’s evenness (F₂,₂₁ = 2.48, p = 0.108). The study provides baseline ecological data critical for vegetation restoration and biodiversity management in coal mining landscapes of Kogi East. It is recommended that targeted ecological restoration programs be implemented alongside long-term monitoring to mitigate the impacts of coal mining on vegetation.
##plugins.themes.bootstrap3.article.details##
Referências
Abdulrahman, A., Yusuf, A., & Bello, M. (2022). Vegetation dynamics and structure of the Guinea savanna in Nigeria. African Journal of Ecology, 60(2), 345–357.
Adepoju, K. A., Ojo, O. A., & Adebayo, A. A. (2012). Vegetation structure and floristic composition of reclaimed mine spoils in southwestern Nigeria. Journal of Environmental Biology, 33(3), 539–546.
Adjei, E. (2007). Impact of mining on livelihood of rural households – A case study of farmers in the Wassa mining region, Ghana. MPhil thesis submitted to Norwegian University of Science and Technology. pp 78- 91.
Aigbedion, I. and Iyayi, S.E. (2007). Environmental effect of mineral exploitation in Nigeria. International Journal of Physical Sciences, 2(2), 33-38.
Akinyemi, O. D., & Adebowale, A. A. (2021). Floristic composition and structure of tropical rainforest ecosystems in southwestern Nigeria. Journal of Forestry Research, 32(4), 1503–1512.
Alsherif, E. A. and Fadl, M. A. (2016). Floristic study of the Al-Shafa Highlands in Taif Western Saudi Arabia. Journal of Flora 225, 20-29.
Ameh, E.G., Idakwo, S.O. and Ojonimi, I.T. (2021) Seasonal Variations of Toxic Metal Pollution in Soil and Sediment Around Okaba Coal Mine Area, Kogi, Nigeria. Journal of Mining and Geology Vol. 57(1) 2021. pp. 85 – 97.
Aniama, S. O., Usman, S.S and S.M. Ayodele (2016). Ethnobotanical documentation of some plants among Igala people of Kogi State. Int. J. Eng. Sci. 4(5): 33–42
Blowes, S. A., Supp, S. R., Antão, L. H., Bates, A., Bruelheide, H., Chase, J. M., ... & Dornelas, M. (2022). Local biodiversity change reflects interactions among changing abundance, evenness, and richness. Ecology, 103(2), e03636.
Bundala, J. M. (2012). Assessment of the Effect of Small-Scale Diamond mining on Land Degradation and Plant Species Diversity: A Case study of Mwadui Community, Kishapu District, Shinyanga. Unpublished Work: Open University of Tanzania.
Chao, A., Chazdon, R. L., Colwell, R. K., & Shen, T. J. (2005). A new statistical approach for assessing similarity of species composition with incidence and abundance data. Ecology Letters, 8(2), 148–159.
Chase, J. M., & Knight, T. M. (2013). Scale- dependent effect sizes of ecological drivers on biodiversity: Why standardised sampling is not enough. Ecology Letters, 16(s1), 17–26.
Chase, J. M., McGill, B. J., Thompson, P. L., Antão, L. H., Bates, A. E., Blowes, S. A., & Myers-Smith, I. H. (2020). Species richness change across spatial scales. Nature, 588(7839), 220–224.
Chazdon, R. L. (2014). Second growth: The promise of tropical forest regeneration in an age of deforestation. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
Chowdhury, S. R., Tripathi, R. S., & Pandey, H. N. (2019). Vegetation development and diversity in coal mine spoils of northeastern India. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 191(5), 1–15.
Clark M.W, Walsh S.R, Smith J.V 2001. The distribution of heavy metals in an abandoned mining area; a case study of StraussPit, the Drake mining area, Australia: implications for the environmental management of mine sites. Environmental Geology, 40:655–663.
Cornell, H. V. 1999. Unsaturation and regional influences on species richness in ecological communities: a review of the evidence. Ecoscience 6:303-315.
Cristescu, R. H., Frère, C., & Banks, S. C. (2012). A review of fauna and flora responses to mining disturbance. Biological Conservation, 152, 1–14.
Díaz, S., Settele, J., Brondízio, E. S., Ngo, H. T., Agard, J., Arneth, A., ... & Zayas, C. N. (2020). Summary for policymakers of the global assessment report on biodiversity and ecosystem services. IPBES.
Dubey, K. And Dubey, K. P. (2010). Impact of Silica Mining on Floristic Diversity of Shankargarh Forest, Allahabad, India. National Comference on Biodiversity, Development and Poverty Alleviation held on 22nd May, 2010. Uttar Pradesh State Biodiversity Board, Uttar Pradesh.
Ekka, N., and Behera, N. (2011). Species composition and diversity of vegetation developing on an age series of coal mine spoil in an open cast coal field in Orissa, India. Trop. Ecol. 52, 337–343.
Ekwule, O. R., Ugbede, M. G., & Akpen, D. G. (2021). The Effect of Heavy Metal Concentration on the Soil of Odagbo Area, Kogi State Nigeria. Computational Engineering and Physical Modeling, 4(4), 84–93.
El-Ghanim, W. M, Hassan, L. M., Galal, T. M. and Badr, A. (2010). Floristic composition and vegetation analysis in Hilal Region North of Central Saudi Arabia. Saudi Journal of Biological Sciences 17, 119-128.
Elliott MA (1981) Chemistry of coal utilization: second supplementary volume. Wiley, New York, p 6001785
Enock O.U. (2023). ECOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS OF COAL MINING IN KOGI EAST, KOGI STATE NIGERIA. Unpublished PhD thesis.
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). (2020). Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020: Main report. Rome: FAO.
Haddad, N. M., Brudvig, L. A., Clobert, J., Davies, K. F., Gonzalez, A., Holt, R. D., & Townshend, J. R. (2015). Habitat fragmentation and its lasting impact on Earth’s ecosystems. Science Advances, 1(2), e1500052.
Hapsari, L., Trimanto, T., and Budiharta, S. (2020). Spontaneous plant recolonization on reclaimed post- coal mining sites in East Kalimantan, Indonesia, Native versus alien & succession progress. Biodiversitas 21, 2003– 2018.
Hawthorne, W. D. (1990). Field guide to the forest trees of Ghana. Catham: Natural Resources Institute, for the Overseas Development Administration, London. Ghana Forestry Series 1, vi + Pp 287.
Hazarika, P., Talukdar, N., and Singh, Y. (2006). Natural colonization of plant species on coal mine spoils at Tikak Colliery, Assam. Trop. Ecol. 47, 37–46.
Huang, Y., Tian, F., Wang, Y., Wang, M., and Hu, Z. (2014). Effect of coal mining on vegetation disturbance and associated carbon loss. Environ. Earth Sci. 73, 2329–2342. doi: 10.1007/s12665-014-3584-z
Hui, C., McGeoch, M. A., & Warren, M. (2023). Species evenness, dominance, and ecological stability under disturbance. Ecological Indicators, 146, 109843.
Imade & Oyebanji, Oyetola & Igbinigie, Eric & Odunsi, Ayodeji. (2021). Floral Distribution of a Sub- Bituminous Coal Dumpsite in Enugu, Nigeria. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. 9. 10.3389/fevo.2021.649954.
Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). (2022). Global assessment report on biodiversity and ecosystem services.
International Energy Agency (IEA). (2023). Coal 2023: Analysis and forecast to 2026. Paris: IEA.
Komara, L. L., Choesin, D. N., and Syamsudin, T. S. (2016). Plant diversity after sixty years post coal mining in East Kalimantan, Indonesia. Biodiversitas 17, 531–538.
Kuma, M. and Shibru, S. (2015). Floristic Composition, Vegetation Structure and Regeneration status of Woody Plants Species of Oda Forest of Humbo Carbon Project, Wolaita, Ethiopia. Journal of Botany, Article ID 963816
Li, X., Zhao, Y., & Zhang, Q. (2021). Vegetation succession and soil recovery in coal mining subsidence areas. Ecological Engineering, 163, 106186.Lu, D., Moran, E. and Mausel, P. (2002). Linking Amazonian secondary succession forest growth to soil properties. Land Degrad. Dev., 13: 331–343.
Magurran, A. E. 2004. Measuring biological diversity. Blackwell Science Ltd.
Mining Journal Special Publication. (2006). Nigeria: An exciting new mining destination. Mining J. 1–20.
Newbold, T., Hudson, L. N., Arnell, A. P.,Contu, S., Palma, A. D., Ferrier, S.,... & Purvis, A. (2020). Global patterns of terrestrial biodiversity responses to human impacts. Nature Ecology & Evolution, 4, 144–153.
Noble, I., Barson, M., Dumsday, R., Fridel, M., Hacker, R., McKenzie, N., Smith, G., Young, M., Maliel, M. and Zammit, C. (1996). Land resources, In: Australia: State of the Environment 1996. Department of the Environment, Canberra.
Novianti, V., Choesin, D. N., Iskandar, D. T., and Suprayogo, D. (2017). Plant species from coal mine overburden dumping site in Satui, South Kalimantan, Indonesia. J. Degrade. Min. Land. Manag. 4, 927–936. doi: 10.15243/jdmlm. 2017.044.927
Ocholi, I.U. (2015). Analysis of Effects of Deforestation on Edaphic Components of the Environment in parts of Kogi east; Unpublished PhD Thesis, Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, Kogi State University, Anyigba.
Ogbonna, D. N., Okolo, J. C., & Uzuegbu, J. O. (2012). Impact of coal mining on the environment in Enugu, Nigeria. Journal of Applied Sciences and Environmental Management, 16(2), 131–137.
Parrotta, J. A., Turnbull, J. W., & Jones, N. (1997). Catalyzing native forest regeneration on degraded tropical lands. Forest Ecology and Management, 99(1–2), 1–7.
Pielou, E.C. (1966). The Measurement of Diversity in Different Types of Biological Collections. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 13, 131-144.
Prach, K., & Walker, L. R. (2020). Comparative plant succession among terrestrial biomes of the world. Cambridge University Press.
Rashid HO, Hossain MS, Urbi Z, Islam MS (2014) Environmental impact of coal mining: a case study on the Barapukuria coal mining industry, Dinajpur, Bangladesh. MiddleEast J Sci Res 21(1):268–274
Saikat Mondal & Palit, Debnath & Chattopadhyay, Pinaki. (2020). Impact of mining on tree diversity of the coal mining forest area at Raniganj coal field area of West Bengal, India.
Sánchez-Pinzón, M. S., Cogollo-Pacheco, A., Arroyave-Quiceno, C., Torrenegra- Guerrero, R. D., Giraldo-Mejía, A. M., Barahona- Rosales, R. (2010). Botanical Diversity and Heavy Metal Content in the Residue Matrix and Plants at the Moravia Dump in Medellín, Colombia. Rev. Fac. Nac. Agron. Medellín 63, 5209–5224.
Sarma, K. (2005). “Impact of coal mining on vegetation, a case study in Jaintia Hills district in Jaintia Hills, District of Meghalaya, India,” in. Submitted to the International Institute for Geo- Information Science and Earth Observation. Ph.D. thesis, (The Netherlands: Enschede), 1–76.
Sarma, K., and Barik, S. (2011). Coal mining impact on vegetation of the Nokrek Biosphere Reserve, Meghalaya, India. Biodiversity, 12(3), 154-164.
Saunders, D. A., Hobbs, R. J. and Margules, C. R. 1991. Biological consequences of ecosystem fragmentation: a review. Conservation Biology 5:18- 32.
Shannon, C.E. (1948). A Mathematical Theory of Communication. Bell System Technical Journal, 27(3), 379-423.
Sibanda, S., Masaka, M. J., and Chirima, A. (2014). Effect of Small Scale gold mining on vegetation species diversity in Umzigwane District. Lupane State University, Bulawayo.
Simberloff, D. 1986. Are we on the verge of a mass extinction in tropical rain forests? In: Elliott, D. K. (ed.) Dynamics of Extinction. John Wiley and Sons, New York. pp 165-180.
Singh, A. (2011). Vascular flora on coal mine spoils of Singrauli coalfields, India. J. Ecol. Nat. Environ. 3, 309–318. doi: 10.5897/JENE.9000113
Sonter, L. J., Ali, S. H., & Watson, J. E. M. (2020). Mining and biodiversity: Key issues and research needs in conservation science. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 287(1931), 20192926.
Sosef, M. S. M., Dauby, G., Blach- Overgaard, A., van der Burgt, X., Catarino, L., Damen, T., & Couvreur, T. L. P. (2021). Exploring the floristic diversity of tropical Africa. BMC Biology, 19, 15.
Tripathi, N., Singh, R. S., & Hills, C. D. (2016). Rehabilitation of disturbed mine land through natural succession: A review. Ecological Engineering, 91, 522–531.
Ukwedeh, J.N. (2003): History of Igala Kingdom; Ahmadu Bello University Press Ltd; Zaria- Nigeria.
Valerie, K. P. (2007), Mining displacement and learning in struggle in Ghana. M.A. thesis submitted to McGill University, Montreal, pp 42-50.
Wang, J., Fu, B., Lu, Y., & Chen, L. (2021). Restoration of degraded ecosystems in mining areas: A review. Journal of Cleaner Production, 279, 123805.
World Bank. (2021). Nigeria climate and environmental data. Washington, DC: World Bank.
Yusuf, M., and Arisoesilaningsih, E. (2017). Exotic Plant Species Attack Revegetation Plants in Post-Coal Mining Areas. AIP Conf. Proc. 1908, 040002. doi: 10.1063/1.5012716
Zhang, C., Li, X., & Chen, L. (2020). Vegetation diversity and community structure in reclaimed coal mining areas. Land Degradation & Development, 31(10), 1284–1296.
Zhang, Z., Liu, Y., & Zhang, H. (2021). Plant community dynamics and ecological restoration in coal mining subsidence areas. Sustainability, 13(4), 2105.