Productivity evaluation of two contrasting watershed using okra as a test crop (Published)
Bioproductivity of two contrasting watershed management system were evaluated in pot and field experiment to ascertain the effect of management and slope on the productivity of okra. The field studies were conducted on four slope gradients of watershed in an experiment arranged in a randomized complete block design (RCBD). The pot experiments were carried out on the soils of the two management practices (managed and unmanaged) and were arranged in a complete randomized design (CRD) with three replicates. NPK fertilizer 15:15:15 at the rate of 150kg/ha was applied as blanket treatment and okra used as test crop. The experiment was carried out on a sandy loam typic paleudult in Amawbia Anambra state southeast Nigerian. The data generated from the study were subjected to analysis of variance and significant mean differences were separated using least significant difference (LSD). The result of the study showed that natural environments of the four slopes in managed plots significantly increased the growth and yield parameters of okra than the unmanaged plots. Slope 4 (plain) of the managed watershed recorded statistically similar productivity with the unmanaged plots by virtue of their non-significant difference (P < 0.05) exhibited in most of the parameters assessed. The NPK fertilizer result indicated that the treatment boasted the productivity of both managed and unmanaged watershed ecosystem.
Keywords: Ecosystem, NPK, Okra, Watershed, depth, management system
Oil Spill Incidents and Wetlands Loss in Niger Delta: Implication for Sustainable Development Goals (Published)
The implementation of a comprehensive founded sustainable development strategy, strengthened by careful management of oil and gas wealth, combined with an continuing exemplary for preservation of the natural environment, is an vital for the Niger Delta region. Oil spills have occurred over the year in the Niger Delta and wetland ecosystems has been degraded by the impact of the spills. Nigeria is showcasing an average of 11 Ramsar-listed coastal and freshwater wetlands, which together cover, 1 076 730 ha. Of these 11 sites, two are located in the Niger Delta region. The Niger delta Region of Nigeria is a wetland of its own covering about 76,000sq km and has the biggest mangrove forest wetlands ecosystem in Africa (11,134 sq km) and the third biggest in the world with its exceptional huge floodplain area in south-south geopolitical zone of Nigeria. National Oil Spill, Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) alerted with a recent aid through data acquisition in monitoring of oil spill from January 2013 to September 2014 reveals that there were 1,930 oil spill incidents in the core Niger Delta are primarily offshore incidence in wetlands ecosystem. Therefore oil spills occurred as a result of inadequate servicing and maintenance of the oil and gas facilities such as preventer blowout, wellhead, flow lines or pipelines, sabotage, accidental and equipment failures by the oil companies. The implementation of wise use concept of wetlands ecosystem as an approach, within the context of sustainable development goals as a centerpiece of modern efforts to manage wetlands will help the policy makers to integrate wetlands ecosystem to environmental planning to ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.
Keywords: Ecosystem, Niger-Delta, Oil-spillage, SDGs, Wetlands
Environmental Geochemical studies on the effects of coal mining in Akwuke- Awkanawnaw, Enugu, and Southeastern Nigeria (Published)
Geochemical media such as water, soil, blackshales and plants were collected around Akwuke community in Awkanawnaw in Enugu area of southwestern Nigeria, and analysed for physicochemical parameters, inorganic ions /salts and heavy metal abundance. The ultimate goal was to investigate the geochemical environment and ascertain if the abandoned Okpara coal mine has any contamination effect on geoenvironment. The measured pH range of 3.98-4.42 renders the water as acidic to moderately acidic and consequently unsuitable drinking purposes, vegetation and aquatic life and wild life. Other physical and inorganic /organic parameters in water such as TDS, EC, Turbidity, TOC, total harness, Cl-, NO3, PO4, F, CN, Ca, Mg, Na and K all fall below recommended standard for potable water guidelines by WHO and EU and they do not portend any health threat to the end-users. Heavy metals results indicated that Fe comprise the most abundant metal in all the media except in plants where Zinc top the list. This is evidence that Fe is of main interest in all the media. It is only in soil sample s that the elements: Fe, Zn, Cr, Cd, Pb, Mn, Cu and Ni exceed standards by US EPA for agricultural soils. This high concentration of potentially toxic metals in soils and acidic water condition constitute a threat to the ecosystem. Specifically, acidic and Fe polluted waters are not benign for fish growth and survival of aquatic biota. Also, acidic and ferruginous waters corrode borehole installation materials and produce iron stained water with characteristic reddish colour and offensive odour. Assessment of the comparative heavy metal abundance in water plants, soil and black shale revealed that there is more heavy metal enrichment loading in soil than other media. The hazard potential is that soils serve as a source that can release heavy metals into other media by various processes of remobilization.Therefore, phytoremediation can be adopted in the for heavy metal attenuation in soils.
Keywords: Ecosystem, Phytoremediation, geoenvironment, potentially toxic