Title : Management tools for identifying cause-and-effect indicators determining the vitality of restinga vegetation affected by mining tailings mud for decision-making on preservation actions and environmental risk mitigation
Abstract:
Management tools can be defined as instruments, methods, software, or approaches used by organizations to optimize and enhance various processes, assisting in making informed decisions directly associated with improving their operational efficiency. The aim of this study was to apply the use of a management tool, key performance indicators (KPIs), to identify the effects of metals such as Fe, Al, Mn, Ba, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, V, Zn on plant species in the restinga ecosystem affected by mining tailings mud, which occurred in 2015 in the city of Mariana/MG and impacted the coastal region of Espírito Santo, where the ecosystem is located. Firstly, raw data were obtained from in situ analyses to monitor the effects of metals present in the tailings mud. The data were collected from individuals, populations, and communities of representative species from herbaceous, shrubby, and arboreal formations, during the dry and rainy periods from 2019 to 2021. Soil analyses were previously performed by ICP-MS. Biological analyses included: i) seed bank identification based on specific literature from the areas; ii) seed germination, determined by seed bank evaluation, considering that seeds from natural banks are in a dormant stage, the acid scarification method with sulfuric acid was used; iii) transient chlorophyll fluorescence; iv) net photosynthesis and gas exchange; v) photosynthetic pigments with pigment levels determined in extracts; vi) oxidative stress, with analysis of antioxidant system enzymes. Based on the raw data generated from collections and analyses, statistical analyses were performed: PCA (Principal Component Analysis), analysis of variance (ANOVA), mean test, and linear correlations to evaluate the effects of metals on the analyzed plant species. Through these analyses, four categories of biological response were identified: primary productivity (net photosynthesis and photosynthetic performance index), oxidative stress (SOD and MDA enzyme activity), primary metabolism (ascorbate and proline measures), and reproduction (flowering and fruiting). Using the four categories of biological response obtained, KPI calculations were made, resulting in the main indicator being plant vitality, providing alerts for risk and danger situations of the analyzed species, with reports presented through dashboards. Therefore, the application of management tools, in this case, KPIs, allowed the monitoring of threatened plant species in the presence of metals, with optimized analyses and organized data for presentation to governmental authorities. This study can be expanded to different ecosystems and situations, from environmental disasters to monitoring crop diseases and pests.
Audience Take Away Notes:
- Management tools can be applied to monitor different ecosystems, addressing various impacts such as pest presence, floods, and different environmental disasters
- The gathering of cause-and-effect indicators assists in the decision-making process and process optimization, avoiding excessive resource expenditures
- The presentation layer, through dashboards, allows for the presentation of complex data in a didactic manner, enabling individuals from different areas of knowledge to understand the results obtained
