Biogeochemical peculiarities of accumulation of chemical elements by plants of the Svydovets Massif of the Ukrainian Carpathians

Abstract


 
 
 he objective of the paper was determining biogeochemical peculiarities of ac- cumulation of chemical elements (Mn, Ni, Сo, V, Cr, Zr, Cu, Pb, Zn, Ba, P) by wild-grow- ing shrubs (stems and leaves) – bog bilberry (Vaccіnium uliginоsum), European blueberry (Vaccinium myrtillus L.), alpine juniper (J. communis subsp. alpina); perennial herbaceous plants (flowers and leaves) – common tormentil (Potentіlla erecta (L.) Hampe), willow gentian (Gentiana asclepiadea), true sedges (Carex); and trees (needles) of European silver fir (Abies alba) on nine plots in the Svy- dovets Massif of the Ukrainian Carpathians. The results we obtained based on field surveys (selection of samples of soil and vegeta- tion) and interpretation of their analysis allowed us to determine the total regional background of chemical elements in soils and ash of plants using emission spectral analysis. We assessed the total concentration of chemical elements in soils of the plots (least to highest): the Apshynets Ridge – the Herashaska Polonyna – Drahobratske Lake – the Svydovets stream – Apshynets Lake – Herashaske Lake – the Zhuravlyne Bog – Vorozheske Lake (group of small lakes) – Vorozheske Lake (large) and determined the dependence on type of soil and pH. We determined that for wild-growing herbaceous plants the biogeochemical activity of species increases in the following sequence: true sedges - willow gentian - common tormentil; for wild-growing shrubs (bog bilberry, European blueberry, alpine juniper) such a sequence is impossible to determine due to the great difference between the values on different plots. We determined the role of each plant as medicinal for treating microelement deficiency in Cu, Zn, Co. We determined that in the plot of the Herashaska Polonyna, the needles of alpine juniper contain a maximum amount of Zn and Co, the needles and leaves of bog bilberry – Cu, Zn, Co; the flowers and leaves of common tormentil by Apshynets Lake and European silver fir near the area of the Svydovets stream – Cu. We calculated the daily dose of each element according to species of plants to overcome microelementosis. The results of biogeochemical surveys may be the basis for determining and recommending plants as medicinal, and also of geochemical and biogeochemical monitoring studies.