Advanced Journal of Environmental Science and Technology

Advanced Journal of Environmental Science and Technology ISSN 2756-3251, Vol. 15 (1), pp. 001-011, January, 2024. © International Scholars Journals

Advanced Journal of Environmental Science and Technology ISSN 2756-3251, Vol. 14 (6), pp. 001-014, June, 2023. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Investigating the Impact of Gold Mining on Heavy Metal Accumulation in Mangoes (Mangifera indica L.) in Zamfara State, Nigeria

ASUQUO Francis Emile¹* and BATE Garba Barde²

¹Chemical Oceanography Programme, Faculty of Oceanography, University of Calabar,  Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria. *Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected].

²Environmental Science Department, Faculty of Science, Federal University Dutse, Jigawa State, Nigeria.

Accepted 8 May, 2023

Abstract

The impact of gold mining on mango (Mangifera indica L.) grown in the vicinity of gold mining sites in Zamfara State, Nigeria have been assessed over the dry and wet seasons. Samples of mango plant parts were collected from 3 impacted sites and a control site monthly between March and August 2014, and analysed for selected heavy metals using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer. The results obtained indicate that Pb was the most abundant heavy metal in the mango roots (95.17 ± 68.49 mg/kg), stems (87.89 ± 64.11 mg/kg) and leaves (67.11 ± 57.11 mg/kg) found in Kwali and the least abundant metal was Ni (0.30 ± 0.44 mg/kg) in Kadauri (control site). The mean values of these metals were found to be above the WHO (1996) and Nigerian FMEnv maximum permissible limits indicating high level of contamination from gold mining activities. The abundances of the metals followed an unsequential pattern in the order Pb > Fe > Au > Al, depending on the location, and differed significantly (P<0.05) across sampling stations. Remarkably higher values of the contaminants were observed in the dry than the wet season. The sequence of heavy metal accumulation in the mango plants were Roots > Stems > Leaves > Fruits which revealed that the roots bio-accumulated the heavy metals more than the fruits. Bio-accumulation factor (BAF) values determined varied with specific heavy metals, location and the season. Most BAF values were higher than 1 indicating that Mangifera indica is a hyperaccumulator and could be used as bioindicator for pollution studies.

Key words: Heavy metals, Mangifera indica, BAF, gold mining, Nigeria.

Advanced Journal of Environmental Science and Technology ISSN 2756-3251, Vol. 14 (5), pp. 001-008, May, 2023. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Soil Physicochemical Properties under Different Land Use Systems in Barkachha, Mirzapur District, Varanasi, India

Weldesemayat Gorems¹* and Nandita Goshal²

¹Department of Wildlife and Protected Area Management, Wondo Genet College of Forestry and Natural Resource, Hawassa University, P. O. Box 128, Shashemene, Ethiopia. *Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected].

²Centre of Advanced Study in Botany, Department of Botany, Institute of Science, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi-221005 (U.P.), India.

Accepted 15 April, 2023

Abstract

Types of land use practice significantly affect the soil physico-chemical properties. Four different land use types were selected (natural forest, bamboo plantation, degraded forest and agricultural land) to analyze the effect of land uses change on soil chemical and physical properties. Among all land use pattern, the highest water holding capacity (40.06±0.74%), porosity (0.539±0.011%), soil macro-aggregates (64.16±2.64%), soil organic carbon (0.84±0.054%) and soil total nitrogen (0.123±0.013%) were found to be under natural forest, closely followed in decreasing order by bamboo plantation, degraded forest and agricultural land. Unlikely, bamboo plantation was higher in moisture content (2.78±0.23%), whereas agricultural land was lower in moisture content (2.14±0.5%), though no significant differences were observed among land use types. Soil organic carbon was significantly affected by different land use practices. In contrast to this, agricultural land was higher in bulk density (1.37±0.0193 g/cm³) whereas natural forest was lower in bulk density (1.220±0.0288 g/cm³). Bulk density, soil organic carbon, soil total nitrogen, water holding capacity and porosity were significantly affected by land use changes. Furthermore, the correlation of analysis showed that soil organic carbon, soil total nitrogen, moisture content, porosity, water holding capacity, soil macro aggregates were positively correlated to each other and negatively correlated with bulk density, meso and micro soil aggregates at p<0.05. The results of this study will help to develop future plan about land use and soil management regarding soil carbon dynamics and climate change mitigation.

Key words: Land use type, land use change, soil physico-chemical properties.