A study to assess the impact of
mine effluents on water quality and macrophyte plant communities in the Kifubwa
stream in Solwezi, Zambia was carried out in December 2015. The macrophytes
species and water samples were collected from ten (10) selected sampling sites
along the river. The initial sampling site was set at the point of pollution
(effluents) entrance into the river. The other 9 sampling units of 30m × 30m were spaced at a uniform interval of 150m throughout the 1.5km section of the
river sampled. Macrophytes collected at each sampling site were identified on
site to family level using the Zambian Macrophytes Trophic Ranking (ZMTR)
protocol developed under the Southern African River Assessment (SAFRASS). The
abundance of macrophyte plant communities showed that family Polygonaceae had(27.5%),Cyperaceae, (23.5%), Amaranthaceae (17.6%),Hydrocharitaceae(17.6%) and Osmundaceae (13.8%) respectively. The Shannon-Weiner’s diversity index (H) was used to
calculate the macrophyte diversity and the value used in a correlation analysis
with potential of hydrogen (pH) and other water quality variable under
investigation. The water samples were taken to the laboratory for analysis of
water variables, namely, pH, Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), nitrates,
phosphates, copper and zinc levels for
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