Abstract
Heavy metals are destructive environmental stressors that greatly reduce plant growth and productivity. Here, the content of some heavy metals (Fe, Cu, Zn and Mn) and mineral nutrients (Ca, Mg and K) in silver fir (Abies alba Mill.) and European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) wood from two sites in the Tarni�a mining area (North-Est Romania) was analyzed. The first site (no. 1) is located near a big tailings dump, whereas the other one (no. 2) is situated 6 km South, in a less polluted area. The purpose of this work was to evaluate the present-date levels of such elements in the investigated biological materials and to compare them. Measurements of heavy metal content in wood were performed with an AAS flame spectrometer, whereas an ICP-OES spectrometer was used for soil and tailings dump samples. The Mn content was higher in the site no. 1 located near the dump, for both species, but the difference was statistically significant only for the European beech trees. The Zn content of samples from the site no. 1 was lower than that corresponding to the second one (no. 2) for both species, but significant for the silver fir only. However, there was not found a significant difference in respect to both iron and copper in the samples collected from the two species and two different sites. Furthermore, the content of Ca and Mg of both species was found higher for the site no. 2, suggesting a better state of nutrition of the investigated trees than of those located near the tailings dump. The content of calcium and magnesium of silver fir was negatively correlated with the diameter of the trees collected from both sites.
Highlights
Heavy metals are destructive environmental stressors that greatly reduce plant growth and productivity
In this work we have determined the content of some heavy metal ions (Fe, Cu, Zn and Mn) and three mineral nutrients (Ca, Mg and K) in silver fir and European beech wood collected from two differently polluted sites on Tarniþa mining area
The t-test and the Mann-Whitney U test indicated some differences between the contents of the heavy metal and mineral nutrients in silver fir and European beech situated on the two sampling sites
Summary
Heavy metals are destructive environmental stressors that greatly reduce plant growth and productivity. The content of some heavy metals (Fe, Cu, Zn and Mn) and mineral nutrients (Ca, Mg and K) in silver fir (Abies alba Mill.) and European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) wood from two sites in the Tarniþa mining area (North-Est Romania) was analyzed. Important changes in the concentration of cuticular alkane of tall fescue plants (Festuca arundinacea) induced by the presence of heavy metal ions was recently reported [4]. These authors showed that multiple mechanisms may exist through which the tested plants could develop and adapt when exposed to various chemicals characterized by different degrees of toxicity. The accumulation of metal ions by plants occur in two steps: one assumes binding to negatively charged groups on the cell surface and the passive transport of metal ions across the cell wall during
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