Biogenic and contaminant heavy metal pollution in Estonian coniferous forests
2017
Napa, Ülle | Ostonen, Ivika | Kabral, Naima | Kriiska, Kaie | Frey, Jane
Estonia is the only country in Europe that is actively mining oil shale. Oil-shale-burning power plants have been and still are the main sources of heavy metals in Estonia. In order to establish how coniferous ecosystems are affected by Zn, Cu, Cr, Ni, Cd and Pb, heavy metal content in current-year and older needles, in litterfall needles and litterfall miscellaneous fraction, in fine roots and in soil organic horizons was analysed at six coniferous stands of ICP Forests and ICP Integrated Monitoring networks. Root uptake, translocation and accumulation indexes were calculated for each heavy metal. The highest concentrations of most of the heavy metals were found in the soil organic horizons, with the exception of Zn and Cu, the highest concentrations of which were found in fine roots. The results showed that concentrations of the rest of the heavy metals (Cr, Ni, Cd and Pb) were also higher in fine roots compared to other plant material. Significant correlations between the concentrations in soil organic horizons and fine roots indicated that heavy metals had accumulated in the soil organic horizon over time and, in some cases, they may have been transported to above-ground living biomass of coniferous trees.
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