Root versus canopy uptake of heavy metals by birch in an industrially polluted area: contrasting behaviour of nickel and copper

Abstract

We investigated root versus canopy uptake of nickel and copper by mountain birch, Betula pubescens subsp. czerepanovi, close to a nickel–copper smelter on the Kola Peninsula, northwest Russia. To distinguish between aerial contamination of leaf surfaces by dust particles and root-derived contamination of leaves by soluble metals, we transplanted seedlings from a control site to clean and metal-contaminated soils and exposed these seedlings both in clean and polluted sites. Patterns of leaf surface contamination and root uptake were similar for nickel and copper; however, nickel but not copper was effectively translocated from roots to shoots and leaves. The majority (80–95%) of nickel and copper found in birch foliage in the heavily contaminated site was due to deposition of dust particles on leaf surfaces; 32–40% of foliar nickel and 9–19% of foliar copper were in water soluble forms. Washing of fresh leaves removed only a minor part of surface contaminants; boiling of unwashed leaves in distilled water for 15 min removed >90% of soluble nickel and copper.