Abstract :
Aim: The main aim of the study was to study the vegetation structure and species diversity of coal mine generated waste land, located in Raniganj coal field area, West Bengal.
Methodology: The survey of vegetation was conducted at both study sites by using standard quadrat method. Study of different phytosociological attribute and species diversity analysis was done using standard methods. Statistical analysis was performed to represent the importance of different phytosociological attributes.
Result: Distribution pattern in both wasteland indicate contagious or clumped type. Butea monosperma and Streblus asper was the most dominant tree species in the two study area respectively whereas, Cynodon dactylon was the most dominant herb species in the study areas. The diversity of herbs was much higher than the others layer of vegetation in both waste lands. Concentration of dominance or Simpson Dominance Index also exhibits variation among the vegetation layers. The Jaccard’s Index of similarity for tree, herb shrub and climber vegetation was 57.14%, 71.11%, 50% and 33.33% respectively between the two waste lands. Hierarchical cluster analysis highlights 13 and 7 primary cluster in the two study area respectively based on their phytosociological attributes. Principle component analysis reveals 97.57% and 92% variance for the first two principle components in the study areas respectively.
Conclusion: The present investigation can be concluded that the data of vegetation analysis might be utilized as baseline information and tool to predict the best and effective reclamation procedure of these coal mined areas.
Keyword :
Coal mining, Reclamation, Wasteland, Vegetation