Physico-Chemical and Phytosociological Analyses of Mine Spoil Dump in Madurai District of Tamil Nadu, India (Research Article)

Author(s): A. Ganesan, S. Shanmugam*, C.P. Muthupandi and K. Rajendran

Abstract: Rehabilitation of mined area has become one of the most prioritized areas of research in India. In Madurai district of Tamil Nadu extensive mining of granite is operated on about 50 square kilometers area. The present study has been made to analyze the physico-chemical properties of granite mine soil. It is also aimed to document the floral diversity in mine dump. A great variety of microorganisms such as Azospirillum, Phosphobacterium and AM fungi have been found in mine spoil. A total of 43 plant species distributed among 40 genera belonging to 30 families were recorded from the study sites. Phytosociological analysis shows that, Prosopis juliflora is found to be a predominant tree species grown in spoil dumped area followed by Morinda tinctoria and Azadirachta indica. There is no nitrogen fixing tree species recorded. The findings of this study can be utilized for mine management programs by creating re-vegetation with suitable tree species in large scale and also for soil management of granite waste dumped area.

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