Search

This investigation was conducted to identify the content of metals inCalluna vulgaris(familyEricaceae),Empetrum nigrum(familyEricaceae),Festuca vivipara(familyPoaceae) andThymus praecoxsubsp.arcticus(familyLamiaceae), as well as in the soils where they were growing in eight geothermal heathlands in Iceland. Investigation into the vegetation of geothermal areas is crucial and may contribute to their proper protection in the future and bring more understanding under what conditions the plants respond to an ecologically more extreme situation. Plants from geothermally active sites were enriched with metals as compared to the same species from non-geothermal control sites (at an average from about 150 m from geothermal activity). The enriched metals consisted of Cd, Co, Cu, Fe and Ni inC. vulgaris; Cd, Mn and Ti inE. nigrum; Hg and Pb inF. vivipara; and Cd, Fe and Hg inT. praecox. Notably,C. vulgaris,E. nigrum,F. viviparaandT. praecoxhad remarkably high concentrations of Ti at levels typical of toxicity thresholds. Cd and Pb (except forC. vulgarisandF. vivipara) were not accumulated in the shoots of geothermal plants.C. vulgarisfrom geothermal and control sites was characterised by the highest bioaccumulation factor (BF) of Ti and Mn;E. nigrumandF. viviparaby the highest BF of Ti and Cr; andT. praecoxby the highest BF of Ti and Zn compared to the other elements. In comparison with the other examined species,F. viviparafrom geothermal sites had the highest concentration of Ti in above-ground parts at any concentration of plant-available Ti in soil.

The Karkonosze National Park is affected by long-distance metal air transport of anthropogenic contamination as well as by tourist activity. Therefore, concentrations of Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn were evaluated in soil as well as in vital and non-vital fronds of Athyrium distentifolium Opiz collected in the middle of the growing season from glacial cirques in the Karkonosze. Additionally, fronds of the same species turning brown in autumn were collected from the same sampling sites. The health of ferns was impacted by the contents of Co, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn in fronds, which may indicate that A. distentifolium uses elements accumulated in its tissues as defence against pathogens. Individuals from higher altitudes contained higher concentrations of Cd, Cu, Ni, Fe and Pb than those from lower altitudes. Autumn fronds of A. distentifolium contained a significantly higher concentration of Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn and Pb than vital summer fronds, which may indicate sequestration of these elements in senescing fronds probably to remove potentially harmful metals. Non-vital ferns were a better accumulator of Pb than vital ones, while both types of ferns accumulated Mn in a similar way. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1007/s10661-020-08438-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Variation in vegetative and reproductive performance and leaf mineral composition among 25 populations of Colchicum autumnale (meadow saffron) from soils derived from six parent materials (limestone, marl, sandstone, greenstone, melaphyre and serpentine) in southwestern Poland has been investigated. The plant size (PS), total le-af area (TLA), leaf shape (LS), number of fruits per plant (NFP), number of seeds per plant (NFP), total weight seed per plant (TWSP) were estimated, and concentrations of seventeen elements (N, P, K, Ca, Mg, Na, S, Fe, Mn, Cu, Zn, Pb, Cd, Ni, Co, Cr, Mo) were analyzed in leaf and soil samples. In soil samples, also soil pH, organic matter content and sand, silt and clay content were determined. All soils (except melaphyre soil) contained elevated levels of Cr. Concentrations of soil Ni and Zn, Pb, Cd in serpentinite soil and polluted marl soils (respectively) were significantly higher than those of other examined soils. Meadow saffron leaves from all sites (except marl sites) contained elevated levels of Cr, Co and Ni. Statistical analysis, carried out with principal component analysis (PCA) revealed that a good correlation exists between the element content in leaves and plant performance traits and soil environment. The leaf Ca content and NFP were correlated and were much higher in populations from metal (except Cr) and nutrient-poor marl soils than in those from metal (except Ni in serpentine soil)and nutrient moderate rich soils derived from melaphyre, greenstones, serpentinite, limestones and sandstones and in those from metal-rich and nutrient-poor polluted marl soils. Meadow saffron plants tended to take up higher amounts of N, P, K, Mn, Cu and Na and lower amounts of S and had much higher TLA in populations from sandstone soils than those in populations from serpentinite, melaphyre, greenstone, marl and limestone soils. The leaf Co, Ni, Cr, Mg concentrations were correlated and were much higher in populations from serpentinite, melaphyre, greenstone, polluted marl and limestone soils than those from marl and sandstone soils. The pattern of variation in NFP and TLA across the different soil types was the opposite of that for leaf N, Cu, Na, Ni, Mg and S concentrations. Redundancy analysis (RDA) enables identification of the soil variables that best explain the variance pattern of plant response. The variation explained by the soil variables (15 soil elements and soil pH) was high (79%). The forward selection of soil variables identified soil Co, Mo, Ni, Ca and Zn concentrations as significantly influencing the ordination plant traits. The variation explained by these selected variables was 55%. Thus the five soil variables appeared to be the main factors determining the pattern variation of vegetative, reproductive and nutrient traits of Colchicum autumnale.

Concentrations of P, K, Ca, Mg, Al, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, V and Zn were measured in rhizomes and fronds of the fern Athyrium filix-femina in relation to the concentrations of the same elements in soils developed on various parent rocks in the Gory Kaczawskie mountains (southwest Poland). This species was sampled from sites on greenstone, sandstone, metadiabase, crystalline limestone, rhyolite, metamudstone, mica and sericite schists and quartzite to verify the hypothesis that the elemental composition of A. filix-femina is different on each type of parent rock. We verified this hypothesis utilising the neural network method (SOFM). The self organising feature map (SOFM) was used to classify parent rock, soil, rhizomes and fronds of A. filix-femina based on the concentrations of elements. Elevated concentrations of elements accumulated in A. filix-femina were influenced by the geochemistry of different parent rock types on which this species grew indicating the bio indicative potential of this plant. SOFM was able to distinguish all types of parent rock based on the chemical composition of A. filix-femina . Therefore SOFM could be a future tool in recognising the type of plant substrate in the Gory Kaczawskie mountains by analysing the concentrations of elements in this species.

Concentrations of the elements Ca, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni, Pb, V and Zn were measured in the moss Pleurozium schreberi from the Tatra National Park, one of the most protected regions in Poland. The moss samples were collected at different elevations between 860 and 2220 m a.s.l. P. schreberi was used as bioindicator for long range transported atmospheric pollution investigating the hypothesis that elevation influences the concentrations of elements in this moss. Principal component and classification analysis (PCCA) distinguished between mosses from the highest and the lowest elevations and mosses from West/East oriented valleys. P. schreberi from the highest elevations contained the highest concentrations of Cd, Cu, Cr, Fe, Mn, Pb, V and Zn. P. schreberi from the lowest elevation contained the highest concentration of K. P. schreberi from West/East oriented valleys contained the highest concentrations of Ni and Co. P. schreberi from the Tatra National Park, one of the most protected areas in Poland, receives metals originating from long distance aerial transport.

Metals deposited into ecosystems are non-degradable and become one of the major toxic agents which accumulate in habitats. Thus, their concentration requires precise monitoring. To evaluate pollution around a chlor-alkali plant, a glass smelter, two power plants and a ceramic and porcelain factory, we selected terrestrial mosses with different life forms: the orthotropic and endohydric Polytrichum commune and plagiotropic and ectohydric Pleurozium schreberi. Metal concentrations were determined in both species growing together at sites situated at various distances approximately 0.75, 1.5, 3 and 6 km from polluters. MARS analysis evaluated different tendencies of both species for Cd, Co and Pb accumulation depending on the distance from the emitter. In P. schreberi, the concentration of these metals diminished relatively rapidly with an increasing distance from the emitter up to 3000 m and then stabilised. For P. commune, a steady decrease could be observed with increasing the distance up to 6000 m. PCCA ordination explained that both species from the vicinity of the chlor-alkali plant were correlated with the highest Co, Cr, Cu, Fe and Pb as well as Mn and Ni concentrations in their tissues. The mosses from sites closest to both power plants were correlated with the highest Cd and Zn concentrations. P. commune contained significantly higher Cd, Cr, Ni, Pb and Zn concentrations compared to P. schreberi. This may be caused by the lamellae found in the leaves of P. commune which increase the surface area of the possible aerial absorption of contaminants. Soil may also be an additional source of metals, and it affects the uptake in endohydric P. commune more than in ectohydric P. schreberi. However, the precise explanation of these relations needs further investigation. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s11356-016-6278-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The paper shows the use of Kohonen's network for classification of basaltoides on the base of chemical properties of soils and Polypodium vulgare L. The study area was Lower Silesia (Poland). The archival data were: chemical composition of types of basaltoides from 89 sites (Al2O3, CaO, FeO, Fe2O3, K2O, MgO, MnO, Na2O, P2O5, SiO2 and TiO2), elements contents in soils (Cd, Co, Cu, Fe, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, S, Ti and Zn) and leaves of P. vulgare (Ca, Cd, Co, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Mo, N, Ni, P, Pb, S, Ti and Zn) from 20 sites. Descriptive statistical parameters of soils and leaves chemical properties have been shown, statistical analyses using ANOVA and relationships between chemical elements were carried out, and SOFM models have been constructed. The study revealed that the ordination of individuals and groups of neurons in topological maps of plant and soil chemical properties are similar. The constructed models are related with significantly different contents of elements in plants and soils. These models represent different chemical types of soils and are connected with ordination of types of basaltoides worked out by SOFM model of TAS division. The SOFM appeared to be a useful technique for ordination of ecological data and provides a novel framework for the discovery and forecasting of ecosystem properties.