Abstract
The impacts of small-scale mining on the vegetal cover as well the livelihoods of communities in mined areas in developing countries such as Ghana are far-reaching. This study assessed the impacts of small-scale mining on flora of conservation and economic significance through quantification of species richness, and species diversity. Mined and unmined sites were chosen in the Dunkwa East Municipality of Ghana. Five belt transects each (200m × 200m) were constructed in both sites. Each belt transect was divided into 100 quadrats (20m × 20m) and plant species in each of the quadrat were identified in the field and or the herbarium of the School of Biological Sciences, University of Cape Coast. One hundred and fifty seven species distributed in 140 genera and 54 families were identified in the mined area whilst the 209 species identified in the unmined area were in 185 genera and 73 families. Plant families Euphorbiaceae, Rubiaceae and Asteraceae were more diverse whilst Asteraceae, Poaceae and Euphorbiaceae were dominant in the unmined area. In the mined area, however, Poaceae, Euphorbiaceae and Asteraceae were more diverse. Pteridium aquilinum, Tridax procumbens and Waltheria indica in the unmined area and Chromolaena odorata, Sporobolus pyramidalis and Euphorbia hirta in the mined area were the dominant species. Small-scale miming activities have caused reduction in species diversity, richness and economic and commercial values in the area. Higher disturbance of the flora has resulted in more secondary species in the mined area. Restoration is required in the study area.
Highlights
Ghana has large deposits of mineral resources (Hilson, 2002), ninth on the list of countries that produce gold worldwide and the second largest producer of gold in sub-Saharan Africa (Arthur, Agyemang-Duah, Gyasi, Yeboah, & Otieku, 2016) accounting for over 3% of world gold production
The monocots were distributed in four subclasses; namely, Commelinidae, Arecidae, Zingiberidae and Liliidae and their contribution to the total number of species encountered in the study were 10.43%, 2.52%, 1.80% and 1.08%, respectively
The study on the flora of the unmined and mined areas has revealed that small-scale mining has contributed to the reduced numbers of plant species of higher conservation value in the mined areas; caused reduction in species diversity and richness; reduced the economic and commercial value of species in the mined area; and increased destruction of canopies leading to the preponderance of herbaceous species in the mined areas
Summary
Ghana has large deposits of mineral resources (Hilson, 2002), ninth on the list of countries that produce gold worldwide and the second largest producer of gold in sub-Saharan Africa (Arthur, Agyemang-Duah, Gyasi, Yeboah, & Otieku, 2016) accounting for over 3% of world gold production. Small-scale mining apart from employing more people especially in the rural poor communities (Arthur et al, 2015) contributed between 20% 35% of the estimated one million five hundred thousand ounces of gold produced in Ghana in 2014 (MinCom, 2015). According to Benkenstein (2012), the contribution of small-scale mining to gold production in Ghana increased sharply from 9% in 2000 to 23% in 2010. Notwithstanding the support of small-scale gold mining to Ghana’s growth and development, mining activities have impacted negatively on the environment rendering soils and water in most mined sites not suitable for many purposes (Kpan, Opoku, & Anukwah, 2014). The degradation of the site is characterized by unfilled pits, poor landscaping, and depleted and fragmented plant cover (Edwards, 2014) rendering the sites not suitable for members of the community who are mostly farmers to re-use the land. From a spatio-temporal perspective, it is unclear what systematic changes in flora have occurred owing to mining enrr.ccsenet.org
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