Evaluation of two-year-old post-nickel mining soil, botanical composition, and the potential of local plants as forage

Abstract

Nickel mining activities often lead to soil degradation, it’s seen by decline in soil’s physical and chemical quality. This activity has great contribution to increasing deforestation due to the growth of nickel mining industry in Indonesia. An alternative approach to reclamation is revegetation using local plants that are adaptive to degraded soil condition. Some of these plant species have potential as forage for livestock due to their nutrient quality. This research aimed to evaluate soil quality on two-year-old post nickel mining soil, identify the botanical composition of local plant species, and evaluate their potential as forage source. The findings of this research could make significant contribution to the management of post-nickel mining soil, particularly in utilizing local vegetation as forage and improving soil quality. Research was conducted at post-mining pits Block F of PT Jagad Rayatama located in Palangga Selatan Subdistrict, South Konawe Regency, Southeast Sulawesi. Research was held by take sample and survey in post nickel mining soil to evaluate soil condition, determine local plants botanical composition and sample to evaluate its quality to determine adaptive and high quality of local plant for forage. The result showed that the C-org. and N-total of post-nickel mining soil were extremely low, with C-organic at 0.39% and N-total at 0.03%. By using Important Value Index and Total Digestible Nutrient we found that Juncus acutiflorus is the only species that is both dominant and has a high Total Digestible Nutrient value in the two-year-old post nickel-mining site. Meanwhile, Imperata cylindrica, Strobilanthes reptans and Cynodon dactylon categorized as species with high Total Digestible Nutrient value but lower dominance. The clustering also shows that Echinochloa colonum and Carex hirta are classified as low-quality species with minimal dominance in two-year-old post nickel-mining area.