A study was conducted to assess the growth performance of Leucaena leucocephala planted on a coal... more A study was conducted to assess the growth performance of Leucaena leucocephala planted on a coal mine spoil. The study indicated marked growth in height, diameter and volume of tree species. In one year the tree species has attained the height growth rate of about 1 m, diameter growth rate of about 1 cm and volume growth rate of about 2300 cm 3. INTRODUCTION Opencast mining activities though inevitable for economic development is environmentally hazardous and results in huge dumps of overburden material as mine spoil. These dumps are drastically disturbed and are physically, nutritionally and microbiologically impoverished habitats (Wali, 1975; Singh and Jha, 1993). Nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) are the two major limiting nutrients in mine spoil (Mays and Bengston, 1978; Jha and Singh, 1993; Singh and Singh, 2001) thwarting the establishment and growth of plant species. Mine spoils are highly prone to erosion, and could cause contamination of rivers and adjoining agricultural lands with harmful substances leached out from it through rain water. Hence stabilization of mine spoil becomes inevitable. Natural restoration of mine spoil is a slow process (Iverson and Wali, 1982; Jha and Singh, 1991, 1992) but can be accelerated by planting leguminous tree species due to their autonomy of fixing nitrogen. The leguminous tree Leucaena leucocephala was chosen for the afforestation of mine spoil due to its high nitrogen fixing ability and wide range of adaptability. It is a fast growing tree species native to Central America and Pacific islands. Studies have been conducted to assess the growth performance of Leucaena leucocephala on mine spoil (Jha et al., 2000), influence of spacing distance on performance of L. leucocephala on mine spoil (Singh, 2012), and effect of compost and limestone amendment on growth performance of L. leucocephala on tin mine tailings (Ssenku et al., 2014). However, the main objective of the present study was to evaluate the growth performance of L. leucocephala planted on a coal mine spoil in monoculture plantation.
Indiscriminate plantation of exotic flora Jatropha curcus for sheer economic gain is a suicidal e... more Indiscriminate plantation of exotic flora Jatropha curcus for sheer economic gain is a suicidal exercise as this hardy plant species may turn itself to a noxious weed in future causing heavy loss to the biological diversity.
A study was conducted to explore the wild medicinal flora of Banaras Hindu University main campus... more A study was conducted to explore the wild medicinal flora of Banaras Hindu University main campus, India, spreading over a land area of about 1,350 acres. A total of 177 wild medicinal plant species were collected, of which 175 were represented by the Angiosperms while 2 plant species were represented by the Pteridophytes. The Angiospermic group of wild medicinal plants was represented by 136 genera distributed among 55 families. Asteraceae, Fabaceae and Acanthaceae are the dominant families of the wild medicinal flora of Banaras Hindu University main campus.
An observational study was conducted to explore the woody wall flora of the world's oldest city o... more An observational study was conducted to explore the woody wall flora of the world's oldest city of Varanasi, India located at the bank of sacred Ganges River. Forty one woody plants of 35 genera belonging to 18 families were recorded on the walls of the city represented exclusively by the dicotyledonous angiospermic group of plants. Fabaceae, Moraceae and Apocynaceae were the dominant families of the woody wall flora of Varanasi city. Native woody species were greater in number compared to exotic woody species on the walls of Varanasi city.
The present study reports the folk medicinal uses of the roots of plants growing on the Banaras H... more The present study reports the folk medicinal uses of the roots of plants growing on the Banaras Hindu University main campus which spreads over 1,350 acres of land area. A total of 14 plant species of 14 genera belonging to 13 families were recorded on the university campus whose roots are therapeutically used against different ailments by rural population residing in villages nearby university campus. Fabaceae is the dominant family of the plants on the university campus (whose roots are used as folk medicines). Roots of herbaceous plants are medicinally more useful than the roots of shrubs and undershrubs.
An observational study was undertaken to explore the floristic wealth of Varanasi district which ... more An observational study was undertaken to explore the floristic wealth of Varanasi district which spreads over an area of 1,535 km 2. A total of 1015 plant species belonging to 601 genera and 116 families were recorded from Varanasi district. The dicotyledons were represented by 785 species belonging to 470 genera and 94 families whereas the monocotyledons were represented by 230 plant species belonging to 131 genera and 22 families. Fabaceae, Asteraceae and Poaceae were the most dominant families of the flora of Varanasi district. The exotic plant species exceeds the number of native plant species while the plants of perennial duration were greater in number than plants of annual and biennial durations in the flora of Varanasi district.
The height, diameter and tree volume of Leucaena leucocephala were significantly greater in NPK f... more The height, diameter and tree volume of Leucaena leucocephala were significantly greater in NPK fertilized plots compared to control plots on mine spoil. The annual height and tree volume increments were also greater in fertilized plots. The response to NPK fertilization decreased with increase in age of the trees of L. leucocephala on mine spoil.
A study was conducted to explore the woody species composition of an age series of naturally reve... more A study was conducted to explore the woody species composition of an age series of naturally revegetated coal mine spoils on Singrauli coalfields, India. The spoils chosen for the study were 2, 10 and 20 years old. Woody species composition increased with increasing age of the spoils and the number of woody species on 2Ë—20 years old mine spoils varied between 2 and 31. Trees dominate over shrubs on the mine spoils. The total tree species density was greater on 20-years spoil as compared to 2-and 10-years old spoil. The two leguminous tree species Butea monosperma and Senegalia catechu have the greatest densities among all recorded woody species on 20-years old spoil, and were common to all the three age coal mine spoils. Most of the woody species colonizing the mine spoils were native and the constituent species of the tropical dry deciduous forest of the locality.
Nitrogen and phosphorus resorption efficiencies were evaluated in three years old, eight tropical... more Nitrogen and phosphorus resorption efficiencies were evaluated in three years old, eight tropical tree species planted on coal mine spoils. Of these eight species, Albizia lebbeck, Albizia procera, Dalbergia sissoo and Millettia pinnata were the leguminous species, while the Azadirachta indica, Holoptelea integrifolia, Madhuca longifolia and Terminalia arjuna were the non-leguminous species. Both groups of plants have shown higher resorption efficiencies for both nitrogen and phosphorus, but they potentially differed in terms of nitrogen and phosphorus resorption efficiency. Non-leguminous species have shown higher efficiency for nitrogen resorption and lower efficiency for phosphorus resorption while contrary to this; leguminous species have shown lower efficiency for nitrogen resorption and higher efficiency for phosphorus resorption.
A study was conducted to analyze the seasonal vascular wall floristic composition of the Banaras ... more A study was conducted to analyze the seasonal vascular wall floristic composition of the Banaras Hindu University Campus, India spreading over 1,300 acres of land area. A total of 119 vascular wall flora was recorded, of which only one species was represented by pteridophyte. No any species of Gymnosperm was observed as wall flora in the University Campus. The Angiospermic wall flora was represented by 111 Genera belonging to 34 different families. The Asteraceae, Poaceae and Amaranthaceae were the dominant families of the wall flora of the Banaras Hindu Campus. Majority of the non-woody wall flora appear in rainy and winter seasons of the year. Among the woody perennials, Ficus benghalensis, Ficus religiosa, Ficus glomerata and Ficus racemosa were the most common wall flora of the Banaras Hindu University Campus.
A study was conducted to assess the growth performance of eight native tropical tree species plan... more A study was conducted to assess the growth performance of eight native tropical tree species planted on a coal mine spoil on Singrauli Coalfields, India. Of all the investigated tree species Acacia catechu, Albizia lebbeck, Dalbergia sissoo and Millettia pinnata were represented by the leguminous species while Azadirachta indica, Gmelina arborea, Tectona grandis and Terminalia bellerica were represented by the non-leguminous species. The overall performance of the leguminous tree species was greater than the non-leguminous tree species. Among all the studied tree species, the leguminous Albizia lebbeck was the best performing species while the non-leguminous Terminalia bellerica was the poorest performing tree species on coal mine spoil. Gmelina arborea and Azadirachta indica were the best performing tree species among the non-leguminous species.
A study was undertaken in Jayant coal mine of Singrauli coalfields, India to analyze the growth p... more A study was undertaken in Jayant coal mine of Singrauli coalfields, India to analyze the growth performance of tropical leguminous tree Leucaena leucocephala planted with two different row spacing distance on coal mine spoil. It was evident from the study that row spacing distance had marked impact on the growth performance of Leucaena leucocephala. Saplings planted with (2 x 4 m) distance exhibited better growth than those planted with (2 x 2 m) distance. INTRODUCTION Mine spoil consists of overburdened dumps of haphazardly consolidated and unconsolidated materials. Mine spoils are nutritionally and microbiologically impoverished habitats [1, 2]. Natural restoration of mine spoil is a slow process [3, 4]. Afforestation of mine spoil with leguminous tree species accelerates the revegetation process and fulfils the restoration goal. Leucaena leucocephala (Lam.) de Wit is a fast growing exotic tree species native to Central America and Pacific islands. The tree species was chosen for the afforestation of mine spoil due to its high nitrogen fixing ability, fast growth and wide range of adaptability (adapts well to a wide range of tropical and subtropical environments, especially seasonally dry tropical areas). The performance of planted tree depends on the spacing distance. Several studies have been conducted to explore the influence of spacing distance on growth performance and biomass production in different tree species including L. leucocephala [5-11]. The evaluation of spacing distance is essential for maximum growth and yield under short period of time. Therefore the present study was aimed to explore the impact of the row spacing distance on growth performance of L. leucocephala on coal mine spoil.
The present study was to assess the vascular wall flora of the Varanasi city, India, located on t... more The present study was to assess the vascular wall flora of the Varanasi city, India, located on the bank of sacred Ganges River. A total of 173 plant species were recorded from the walls of Varanasi city, of which 171 species were represented by angiosperms while only two species were represented by the pteridophytes. The angiosperms were represented by 131 genera distributed among 47 families. The Poaceae, Asteraceae and Amaranthaceae were the dominant families of the wall flora of Varanasi city. Analysis of flora with respect to life forms indicated the dominance of therophytes over the other life forms. The vascular wall flora of the city is dominated by the exotic species. Lindenbergia indica, Ficus religiosa, Ficus benghalensis, Ficus infectoria, Pteris vittata and Tridax procumbens were the most common flora visible on the walls of the Varanasi city.
A study was undertaken to explore the medicinal flora of the Banaras Hindu University main campus... more A study was undertaken to explore the medicinal flora of the Banaras Hindu University main campus, India, spreading over 1,350 acres of land area. A total of 415 medicinal plant species were recorded from the university campus, of which 404 plant species belonging to 308 genera and 96 families were represented by the Angiosperms, 6 plant species belonging to 5 genera and 3 families were represented by the Gymnosperms and 5 plant species belonging to 4 genera and 4 families were represented by the Pteridophytes. Fabaceae, Asteraceae and Malvaceae were the dominant families of the medicinal flora of the Banaras Hindu University main campus. The native medicinal plants dominated over the exotic medicinal plants, and the medicinal plants of perennial duration dominted over the medicinal plants of annual and biennial durations on the university campus.
A study was conducted to assess the growth performance of Leucaena leucocephala planted on a coal... more A study was conducted to assess the growth performance of Leucaena leucocephala planted on a coal mine spoil. The study indicated marked growth in height, diameter and volume of tree species. In one year the tree species has attained the height growth rate of about 1 m, diameter growth rate of about 1 cm and volume growth rate of about 2300 cm 3. INTRODUCTION Opencast mining activities though inevitable for economic development is environmentally hazardous and results in huge dumps of overburden material as mine spoil. These dumps are drastically disturbed and are physically, nutritionally and microbiologically impoverished habitats (Wali, 1975; Singh and Jha, 1993). Nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) are the two major limiting nutrients in mine spoil (Mays and Bengston, 1978; Jha and Singh, 1993; Singh and Singh, 2001) thwarting the establishment and growth of plant species. Mine spoils are highly prone to erosion, and could cause contamination of rivers and adjoining agricultural lands with harmful substances leached out from it through rain water. Hence stabilization of mine spoil becomes inevitable. Natural restoration of mine spoil is a slow process (Iverson and Wali, 1982; Jha and Singh, 1991, 1992) but can be accelerated by planting leguminous tree species due to their autonomy of fixing nitrogen. The leguminous tree Leucaena leucocephala was chosen for the afforestation of mine spoil due to its high nitrogen fixing ability and wide range of adaptability. It is a fast growing tree species native to Central America and Pacific islands. Studies have been conducted to assess the growth performance of Leucaena leucocephala on mine spoil (Jha et al., 2000), influence of spacing distance on performance of L. leucocephala on mine spoil (Singh, 2012), and effect of compost and limestone amendment on growth performance of L. leucocephala on tin mine tailings (Ssenku et al., 2014). However, the main objective of the present study was to evaluate the growth performance of L. leucocephala planted on a coal mine spoil in monoculture plantation.
Indiscriminate plantation of exotic flora Jatropha curcus for sheer economic gain is a suicidal e... more Indiscriminate plantation of exotic flora Jatropha curcus for sheer economic gain is a suicidal exercise as this hardy plant species may turn itself to a noxious weed in future causing heavy loss to the biological diversity.
A study was conducted to explore the wild medicinal flora of Banaras Hindu University main campus... more A study was conducted to explore the wild medicinal flora of Banaras Hindu University main campus, India, spreading over a land area of about 1,350 acres. A total of 177 wild medicinal plant species were collected, of which 175 were represented by the Angiosperms while 2 plant species were represented by the Pteridophytes. The Angiospermic group of wild medicinal plants was represented by 136 genera distributed among 55 families. Asteraceae, Fabaceae and Acanthaceae are the dominant families of the wild medicinal flora of Banaras Hindu University main campus.
An observational study was conducted to explore the woody wall flora of the world's oldest city o... more An observational study was conducted to explore the woody wall flora of the world's oldest city of Varanasi, India located at the bank of sacred Ganges River. Forty one woody plants of 35 genera belonging to 18 families were recorded on the walls of the city represented exclusively by the dicotyledonous angiospermic group of plants. Fabaceae, Moraceae and Apocynaceae were the dominant families of the woody wall flora of Varanasi city. Native woody species were greater in number compared to exotic woody species on the walls of Varanasi city.
The present study reports the folk medicinal uses of the roots of plants growing on the Banaras H... more The present study reports the folk medicinal uses of the roots of plants growing on the Banaras Hindu University main campus which spreads over 1,350 acres of land area. A total of 14 plant species of 14 genera belonging to 13 families were recorded on the university campus whose roots are therapeutically used against different ailments by rural population residing in villages nearby university campus. Fabaceae is the dominant family of the plants on the university campus (whose roots are used as folk medicines). Roots of herbaceous plants are medicinally more useful than the roots of shrubs and undershrubs.
An observational study was undertaken to explore the floristic wealth of Varanasi district which ... more An observational study was undertaken to explore the floristic wealth of Varanasi district which spreads over an area of 1,535 km 2. A total of 1015 plant species belonging to 601 genera and 116 families were recorded from Varanasi district. The dicotyledons were represented by 785 species belonging to 470 genera and 94 families whereas the monocotyledons were represented by 230 plant species belonging to 131 genera and 22 families. Fabaceae, Asteraceae and Poaceae were the most dominant families of the flora of Varanasi district. The exotic plant species exceeds the number of native plant species while the plants of perennial duration were greater in number than plants of annual and biennial durations in the flora of Varanasi district.
The height, diameter and tree volume of Leucaena leucocephala were significantly greater in NPK f... more The height, diameter and tree volume of Leucaena leucocephala were significantly greater in NPK fertilized plots compared to control plots on mine spoil. The annual height and tree volume increments were also greater in fertilized plots. The response to NPK fertilization decreased with increase in age of the trees of L. leucocephala on mine spoil.
A study was conducted to explore the woody species composition of an age series of naturally reve... more A study was conducted to explore the woody species composition of an age series of naturally revegetated coal mine spoils on Singrauli coalfields, India. The spoils chosen for the study were 2, 10 and 20 years old. Woody species composition increased with increasing age of the spoils and the number of woody species on 2Ë—20 years old mine spoils varied between 2 and 31. Trees dominate over shrubs on the mine spoils. The total tree species density was greater on 20-years spoil as compared to 2-and 10-years old spoil. The two leguminous tree species Butea monosperma and Senegalia catechu have the greatest densities among all recorded woody species on 20-years old spoil, and were common to all the three age coal mine spoils. Most of the woody species colonizing the mine spoils were native and the constituent species of the tropical dry deciduous forest of the locality.
Nitrogen and phosphorus resorption efficiencies were evaluated in three years old, eight tropical... more Nitrogen and phosphorus resorption efficiencies were evaluated in three years old, eight tropical tree species planted on coal mine spoils. Of these eight species, Albizia lebbeck, Albizia procera, Dalbergia sissoo and Millettia pinnata were the leguminous species, while the Azadirachta indica, Holoptelea integrifolia, Madhuca longifolia and Terminalia arjuna were the non-leguminous species. Both groups of plants have shown higher resorption efficiencies for both nitrogen and phosphorus, but they potentially differed in terms of nitrogen and phosphorus resorption efficiency. Non-leguminous species have shown higher efficiency for nitrogen resorption and lower efficiency for phosphorus resorption while contrary to this; leguminous species have shown lower efficiency for nitrogen resorption and higher efficiency for phosphorus resorption.
A study was conducted to analyze the seasonal vascular wall floristic composition of the Banaras ... more A study was conducted to analyze the seasonal vascular wall floristic composition of the Banaras Hindu University Campus, India spreading over 1,300 acres of land area. A total of 119 vascular wall flora was recorded, of which only one species was represented by pteridophyte. No any species of Gymnosperm was observed as wall flora in the University Campus. The Angiospermic wall flora was represented by 111 Genera belonging to 34 different families. The Asteraceae, Poaceae and Amaranthaceae were the dominant families of the wall flora of the Banaras Hindu Campus. Majority of the non-woody wall flora appear in rainy and winter seasons of the year. Among the woody perennials, Ficus benghalensis, Ficus religiosa, Ficus glomerata and Ficus racemosa were the most common wall flora of the Banaras Hindu University Campus.
A study was conducted to assess the growth performance of eight native tropical tree species plan... more A study was conducted to assess the growth performance of eight native tropical tree species planted on a coal mine spoil on Singrauli Coalfields, India. Of all the investigated tree species Acacia catechu, Albizia lebbeck, Dalbergia sissoo and Millettia pinnata were represented by the leguminous species while Azadirachta indica, Gmelina arborea, Tectona grandis and Terminalia bellerica were represented by the non-leguminous species. The overall performance of the leguminous tree species was greater than the non-leguminous tree species. Among all the studied tree species, the leguminous Albizia lebbeck was the best performing species while the non-leguminous Terminalia bellerica was the poorest performing tree species on coal mine spoil. Gmelina arborea and Azadirachta indica were the best performing tree species among the non-leguminous species.
A study was undertaken in Jayant coal mine of Singrauli coalfields, India to analyze the growth p... more A study was undertaken in Jayant coal mine of Singrauli coalfields, India to analyze the growth performance of tropical leguminous tree Leucaena leucocephala planted with two different row spacing distance on coal mine spoil. It was evident from the study that row spacing distance had marked impact on the growth performance of Leucaena leucocephala. Saplings planted with (2 x 4 m) distance exhibited better growth than those planted with (2 x 2 m) distance. INTRODUCTION Mine spoil consists of overburdened dumps of haphazardly consolidated and unconsolidated materials. Mine spoils are nutritionally and microbiologically impoverished habitats [1, 2]. Natural restoration of mine spoil is a slow process [3, 4]. Afforestation of mine spoil with leguminous tree species accelerates the revegetation process and fulfils the restoration goal. Leucaena leucocephala (Lam.) de Wit is a fast growing exotic tree species native to Central America and Pacific islands. The tree species was chosen for the afforestation of mine spoil due to its high nitrogen fixing ability, fast growth and wide range of adaptability (adapts well to a wide range of tropical and subtropical environments, especially seasonally dry tropical areas). The performance of planted tree depends on the spacing distance. Several studies have been conducted to explore the influence of spacing distance on growth performance and biomass production in different tree species including L. leucocephala [5-11]. The evaluation of spacing distance is essential for maximum growth and yield under short period of time. Therefore the present study was aimed to explore the impact of the row spacing distance on growth performance of L. leucocephala on coal mine spoil.
The present study was to assess the vascular wall flora of the Varanasi city, India, located on t... more The present study was to assess the vascular wall flora of the Varanasi city, India, located on the bank of sacred Ganges River. A total of 173 plant species were recorded from the walls of Varanasi city, of which 171 species were represented by angiosperms while only two species were represented by the pteridophytes. The angiosperms were represented by 131 genera distributed among 47 families. The Poaceae, Asteraceae and Amaranthaceae were the dominant families of the wall flora of Varanasi city. Analysis of flora with respect to life forms indicated the dominance of therophytes over the other life forms. The vascular wall flora of the city is dominated by the exotic species. Lindenbergia indica, Ficus religiosa, Ficus benghalensis, Ficus infectoria, Pteris vittata and Tridax procumbens were the most common flora visible on the walls of the Varanasi city.
A study was undertaken to explore the medicinal flora of the Banaras Hindu University main campus... more A study was undertaken to explore the medicinal flora of the Banaras Hindu University main campus, India, spreading over 1,350 acres of land area. A total of 415 medicinal plant species were recorded from the university campus, of which 404 plant species belonging to 308 genera and 96 families were represented by the Angiosperms, 6 plant species belonging to 5 genera and 3 families were represented by the Gymnosperms and 5 plant species belonging to 4 genera and 4 families were represented by the Pteridophytes. Fabaceae, Asteraceae and Malvaceae were the dominant families of the medicinal flora of the Banaras Hindu University main campus. The native medicinal plants dominated over the exotic medicinal plants, and the medicinal plants of perennial duration dominted over the medicinal plants of annual and biennial durations on the university campus.
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