Impact of Mining Activity on Soil Quality and Plant Biodiversity in Senkele Faris, West Shoa Zone, Ethiopia

Sand and rock mining is an alarming problem for the agricultural land users in Senkelefaris area since it creates long term negative impact on the environment. The present study focuses the impacts of sand and rock mining on the soil quality and plant biodiversity. The results revealed water retention rate of the soil has reduced in the mined area due to variation in the physical nature of the soil. The percentage composition of sand fraction was significantly high in the mining area with low in organic content, low fertility, due to the permeable nature. The bulk density was significantly (p<0.05) higher in mined soil which might be a cause for change in soil properties. Though the pH values remains within the permissible limit, the moisture content and cation exchange capacity were significantly (p<0.001) higher in the unmined soil. There were 1340 trees (22 genera and 19 family) in the unmined area whereas in the mined plots have 174 (16 genera and 19 family) were observed. The most dominant species was Olea europaea belongs to the family Oleaceae in both area. The density of shrubs was high (3975) in the un mined area when compared to (231) the mined places. Among shrubs species belonging to the family Apocynaceae were dominant (2082) in the unmined area and those of family Rubiaceae (89) in the mined area. Keywords: Senkelefaris, mining, bulk density, Oleaceae, Apocynaceae, Rubiaceae