Assessment of herbaceous vegetation species composition growing around Kleinkopje opencast coal mine, Mpumalanga Province, South Africa
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Nature Research
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Coal mining involves the removal of natural vegetation, heavy excavation; combustion and ignition accompanied by a release of coal dust to the atmosphere that drastically reduce the ecosystem services. A study was conducted to assess of veld grasses around a coal mine in Emalahleni in Mpumalanga. Six 100 m line transects were established on rehabilitated site and natural veld in Kleinkopje coal mine. Plant identification, leaf and tiller counting, and biomass harvesting were conducted on each of five 1 m<sup>2</sup> sampling quadrats placed at intervals of 20 m along the transect. Nineteen (19) grass species, some (07) forbs and (03) sedges were recorded. Therefore, <i>Eragrostis curvula</i> (31.5%) was the most frequent on the natural veld, followed by <i>Cynodon dactylon</i> (28.36%) and Panicum maximum (22.25%) on the rehabilitated. On the natural veld, <i>Aristida congesta</i> had higher tiller production (17 tillers per plant) while <i>E. curvula</i> averaged 11 tillers per plant on the rehabilitated site. On the rehabilitated site, <i>U. mosambicensis</i> produced averaged 94 leaves per plant than all other species on both sites. Basal cover, species diversity and richness did not differ (p > 0.05) between rehabilitated site and natural veld. Rehabilitated site had a generally higher biomass production of 4.35 kg DM ha<i>− 1</i> than natural veld with 3.24 kg DM ha<i>− 1</i>. <i>E. curvula</i> and <i>C. dactylon</i> had higher contribution to the total biomass production on both sites. However, their biomass production was insignificantly different (p > 0.05) from that of <i>Urochloa mozambicensis</i> and <i>P. maximum</i> on rehabilitated site and <i>Heteropogon contortus</i> on natural site. Our results indicated that <i>E. curvula</i> and <i>C. dactylon</i> are highly persistent and productive hence they are ideal for mine rehabilitation.
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grasses, vegetation, forage