engleski

Metal uptake by Betula pendula (silver birch) grown on contaminated sites

Betula pendula is a medium-sized deciduous tree, which can be found in Europe, parts of Asia, but also in America. It is considered a pioneer species, thus it grows after a forest fire or on bare land among the first tree species. Vegetation on (heavily) contaminated sites is in general treeless, due to long time exposure on the one hand and due to their limited detoxification capacities on the other hand. Besides pine trees (e.g. Pinus sylvestris) Betula pendula has been found on various brownfields. Thus, they exhibit tolerance at least to certain metals, which could be useful for soil remediation. Birch leaves were collected from healthy trees at different contaminated and uncontaminated sites and analyzed for more than twenty elements, covering nutrients from trace elements to major elements alongside potentially toxic metals and metalloids. Besides the plant tissues, soil samples were drawn at each sampling site and their elemental contents determined. Based on the kind of contamination various elements were found in elevated levels in the respective leaves. These data are basis for risk assessments performed for further usage of urban contaminated landscapes e.g. as residual area.

Birch, contaminated soil, metal uptake

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