Relationship between Soil and Vegetation in an Oil and Gas Polluted Environment as Revealed by Regression Analysis

The relationship between soil and vegetation in an oil and gas polluted environment as revealed by regression analysis was investigated. This study was carried out in four different sites in Rivers State purposively selected for ease of accessibility. The study adopted field measurement for data collection. In each experimental sites, soils and vegetation samples were obtain from transects establish from the centre of the polluted area outward. The data was obtained in a 10 m by 10 m quadrats placed at regular of 50 m along the transect from the hydrocarbonimpacted area. A total of six Quadrat areas were sampled along each transect of 300 m in length making a total of 24 Quadrats. The soil and vegetation data were analyzed using multiple regression equation. The relationship between soil and vegetation around the polluted area was achieved through the multiple regression analysis. The technique was selected from the four basic soil nutrients as determinants of vegetation productivity in the polluted area. They include electrical conductivity (EC), sodium (Na), exchange cation capacity (ECC) and magnesium (Mg). They were found to correlate positively with all the species of the vegetation strata of the study area. On the basis of these findings, it was strongly recommended among others that bioremediation, environmental certification and monitoring and environmental education in the area be urgently carried out.