Native Trees as Biomonitors of Chemical Elements in the Biodiversity Conservation of the Atlantic Forest

Abstract

The Atlantic Forest, a hotspot in the world with a great diversity of plants and animals, is located in the most industrialized area of Brazil, a potential source of chemical elements for the atmosphere. From its original area about 10% has been preserved mainly through the implementation of conservation units, among which the Parque Estadual Carlos Botelho (PECB) is one of the most representative. Here, leaves of the predominant species in the PECB were analyzed by instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) for the establishment of natural backgrounds of As, Ba, Br, Ca, Cd, Ce, Co, Cs, Fe, Hg, K, Na, Rb, Sc, Se, Sr and Zn. Biomonitoring of the Atlantic Forest was realized through the tree community study taking in account the interspecies and the intraspecies variability of chemical concentrations. Results pointed out the low status of pollution based on the concentrations of chemical elements of environmental concerning. However, Br concentrations were higher in the understory species, which could be related to the possible effects of atmospheric pollution or sea influence. In addition, some Hyeronima alchorneoides trees showed to be hyperaccumulators of Co.