The effect of accumulation of Cd, Zn, Cu, Pb, Fe in the soil and leaves of birch Betula pendula Roth on their fluctuating asymmetry
Abstract
The issue of choosing convenient and informative environmental quality indicators is particularly acute for urban urban ecosystems. The purpose of this work is to compare the effect of the metal content in the soil and their accumulation in the leaves on the fluctuating asymmetry of birch leaves Betula pendula Roth. The study was conducted in a medium-sized city (Kirovo-Chepetsk, Russia, a subzone of the southern taiga, the climate is temperate continental). Soil samples (0–15 cm) and birch leaves of B. pendula (n = 100) were taken at different functional sites. The content of metals Cd, Zn, Cu, Pb, Fe in the soil corresponded to the standards, except for Zn in the transport zone (exceeding 2.29 times). The accumulation of Cd and Pb in the leaves was less than half of the conditional norm of 10 mg/kg (according to A. Kabata-Pendias). Cu and Zn accumulated in birch leaves above phytotoxic levels (2 and 33 mg/kg, respectively). The direct dependence (correlation to Pearson) of the FA of B. pendula leaves on their content in the soil is shown: Zn (r = 0.76) > Fe (0.66) > Cu (0.46) > Cd (0.43) > Pb (0.36). The dependence of FA on the accumulation of metals in the soil was higher: Pb (r=0.85) > Fe (0.80) > Cu (0.76) Zn (0.53) > Cd (0.46). It follows from the results that (1) the accumulation of metals in the soil, even within the limits of standards, is associated with the bioindication index of the FA of B. pendula leaves, probably due to the washing regime; (2) the influence of the metal content in the leaves on their FA is more significant due to the possibility of metals entering both from the soil and from the air.
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