The effects of waste gas flares on the surrounding vegetation in south-eastern Nigeria.
Abstract
Air, soil and leaf temperatures increased and relative humidity of the air decreased within c. 110 m of six flare sites near Port Harcourt in south-eastern Nigeria.Leaf chlorophyll content and internode length of Eupatorium odoratum plants decreased close to the flares. The flowering of the short-day plant, E. odoratum was suppressed in the area of the flares.A bare area, 30-40 m in radius, occurs around the flare stacks. Outside this bare area, the species composition of the vegetation was affected by the flares up to a distance of from 80 to 100 m from the stacks.The total number of species decreased close to the flares, but the proportion of carpeting and C4 plants increased.