Impact of Talc Ore Mining on Periphyton Community Structure and Water Environment

Abstract

In order to explore the impact of Talc ore mining on aquatic ecosystems, periphyton communities and environmental factors from control portion, impacted portion and recovery portion separately were investigated and analyzed. Samples were collected from upstream Tanghe River (an important tributary of Tazi River) in November 2015, April 2016, and July 2016. Mann-Whitney U test was applied to compare the differences in environmental factors and periphyton community structures among three portions. Spearman correlation analysis, canonical correspondence analysis, and t-value biplot analysis were used to determine the relationship between the environmental factors and periphyton community structures. In the control and recovery portions, mass concentrations of magnesium (Mg), selenium (Se), arsenic (As), iron (Fe), molybdenum (Mo), bicarbonate ion (HCO3-), nitrate ion (NO3-), power of hydrogen (pH) and electric conductivity (EC), were the highest, and in the impacted portion, mass concentrations of potassium(K), sodium (Na), strontium (Sr), barium (Ba), silicon dioxide (SiO2), and dissolved oxygen (DO) were the lowest. The mass concentrations of Mg, Mo, As, EC, and HCO3- were significantly different (P<0.05) among the three portions. In control and recovery portions, the periphyton density, species richness, diatom siltation index, and relative abundance of Achnanthes sp. were the highest, while in the impacted portion, the percentage of handle diatom, the relative abundance of Surirella sp., and relative abundance of Navicula sp. were the lowest. Species richness of periphyton was significantly different (P<0.05) among the three portions. In summary, Mg, EC, and HCO3- from Talc Ore mining had significant impacts on periphyton assemblage structure.