PJB-2022-224
Taxonomy, distribution, and diversity of potential phytoremediation candidates from a tailings storage facility
Francis Kwaku Nkansah
Abstract
The mining process is billed with a generation of solid wastes called tailings that potentially pose a severe environmental threat globally. A plant-based technology has been suggested to remediate this problem. Phytoremediation is an aesthetically pleasing, eco-friendly, low-cost biotechnological process that has emerged in the tropics to clean up contaminated soils. In a bid to select potential plant species for phytoremediation, the taxonomy, distribution, and diversity of plants growing at the tailings dam at Chirano Gold Mine in Ghana were determined. Plant species growing in and around the Tailings Storage Facility 1 were sampled in five plots. Sampled species were identified, classified and diversity determined using the Shannon-Weiner Index. A total of 19 plant species belonging to 8 families, 16 genera, and 4 growth forms were identified. The most abundant family was Poaceae (37 %). Grasses were the dominant growth form with a major contribution to the Shannon-Weiner Index of 2.01. The majority of plant species (90 %) are propagated by seeds. The result indicates that there is a high potential for the utilization of plant species from the families Poaceae, Asteraceae, and Euphorbiaceae in phytoremediation of contaminated mined sites.
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