Broussonetia Papyrifera Mat As Soil Stabilizer in Mined Land Reclamation: Effects on Soil Quality and Vegetation Characteristics

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This study investigated the effectiveness of the plant Broussonetia papyrifera in reclaiming degraded lands and how they support vegetation growth. This was done by comparing soil quality and vegetation characteristics of two sites (one treated with mats woven from the bark of the Broussonetia tree and the other untreated site serving as a control). The mat had been laid for a period of 11 years before the samples were taken. To help determine the soil quality, the following parameters were measured: soil pH, soil organic carbon, exchangeable Na, exchangeable Mg, exchangeable Ca, cation exchange capacity, water holding capacity and total nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. The vegetation growth was determined by identifying plant species, specifically saplings and herbaceous plants on the plots and their diversity and abundance determined. Results from the data collected indicated that Broussonetia papyrifera was able to improve the soil physiological which in turn improved the vegetation there. Soil organic matter and carbon, pH, total nitrogen, exchangeable K and exchangeable nitrogen were significantly different between the two sites (the control and treated sites). Broussonetia mat was able to lower the pH of the soil significantly to 6.70 which was very suitable for most crops. Total nitrogen had a concentration of 0.62%, exchangeable potassium (K) was 0.67cmol/kg, and exchangeable sodium (Na) recorded 0.13cmol/kg, organic carbon (C) gave a percentage of 3.77% and 6.59% for organic matter. These values were statistically different from that obtained from their counterparts in the control site with p values of 0.041, 0.046, 0.042, 0.007 and 0.011 respectively. Aside these parameters, the remaining ones (available phosphorus, exchangeable calcium and exchangeable magnesium) didn’t record any statistically different values in both sites. From the above data, it was very clear that, the application of the broussonetia mat was able to improve upon the physicochemical properties of the soil.