Mineral status of plants and soil in silver fir stands of the Silesian and Żywiec Beskidy (Western Carpathians)

Institute for Ecology of Industrial Areas, Kossutha 6, 40-844 Katowice, Poland

^* Corresponding author: j.borgulat@ietu.katowice.pl

Abstract

For last decades the Silesian and Żywiec Beskidy have been affected by different types of anthropopression. Up to the nineties of the 20th century, forests of the area were affected by a high level of air pollutants transported mainly from the Upper Silesian and Ostrava industrial regions. From 2004 intensive felling and skidding works in declining forest stands combined with their reconstruction have been carried out. Among different species silver fir has been introduced on a large scale. In the paper the results of investigation of plants and soil carried out 7 sites located in Beskidy Mountains (49°41’6”N, 19°1’48”E) are presented. Contents of K, Mg, Ca and N in needles of silver fir (Abies alba Mill.) and leaves of bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus L.) were determined which was accompanied by a chemical characteristics of forest topsoil from the same sites. Moreover, in both environment compartments, the concentration of S, Pb, Cd, and Zn was also determined to assess the level of anthropopression in individual sites. In general, the obtained results show relatively good mineral status of plants. Some disturbances in the ratios of elements in plants were found in sites located near the Polish and Czech border. In plants and soil in these sites an elevated level of heavy metals was found which testifies the transboundary transport of air pollutants. The bilberry seems to be a better bioindicator of heavy metal pollution than silver fir.