An Assessment of the Impact of the Mining Industry on Soil and Plant Contamination by Potentially Toxic Elements in Boreal Forests

This study was conducted in the territory of the industrial site of the Udachny Mining and Processing Division (Yakutia, northeast Russia). The objects of study were permafrost soils and two species of shrubs ( Betula middendorffii T. and Duschekia fruticose R.). Soil and plant samples were analyzed...

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Published in:Forests
Main Authors: Anna Gololobova, Yana Legostaeva
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2023
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.3390/f14081641
https://doaj.org/article/94acf1dec639482fb79f9167730bd021
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spelling ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:94acf1dec639482fb79f9167730bd021 2023-09-26T15:22:05+02:00 An Assessment of the Impact of the Mining Industry on Soil and Plant Contamination by Potentially Toxic Elements in Boreal Forests Anna Gololobova Yana Legostaeva 2023-08-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3390/f14081641 https://doaj.org/article/94acf1dec639482fb79f9167730bd021 EN eng MDPI AG https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/14/8/1641 https://doaj.org/toc/1999-4907 doi:10.3390/f14081641 1999-4907 https://doaj.org/article/94acf1dec639482fb79f9167730bd021 Forests, Vol 14, Iss 1641, p 1641 (2023) soil–plant system potentially toxic elements Yakutia pollution index bioaccumulation factor biochemical situation Plant ecology QK900-989 article 2023 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3390/f14081641 2023-08-27T00:35:39Z This study was conducted in the territory of the industrial site of the Udachny Mining and Processing Division (Yakutia, northeast Russia). The objects of study were permafrost soils and two species of shrubs ( Betula middendorffii T. and Duschekia fruticose R.). Soil and plant samples were analyzed using atomic absorption spectrometry for the presence of PTEs (Pb, Ni, Mn, Cd, Co, Cr, Zn, Cu, and As). The bioaccumulation factor ( BAF ), frequency of occurrence ( Hi ), pollution index ( PI ), and pollution load index ( PLI ) were calculated. The PI and PLI are calculated for both soil and two plant species for the first time in this study. The results showed that the soils have a high Ni, Cr, Co, As, and Mn content. It has been established that high soil pollution naturally leads to an increase in the concentration of elements in the leaves of shrubs. The soils and vegetation are dominated by elements associated with trap magmatism—Cr, Co, Cu, and dolerite dikes—Mn and Zn. For Betula middendorffii , the PLI was classified as unpolluted to moderately polluted, and Duschekia fruticosa. was classified as unpolluted. The high level of contamination is typical for areas located near industrial sites, such as waste dumps, kimberlite pipes, tailings ponds, and roads. The BAF results confirmed that the leaves of Betula middendorffii are able to accumulate more PTEs and have the highest level of resistance to PTE contamination in mining environments. This analysis showed that the consistent application of the PI , PLI , and BAF indices is very efficient in the ecological and biogeochemical assessment of the situation in industrial development areas. Article in Journal/Newspaper permafrost Yakutia Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Udachny ENVELOPE(112.402,112.402,66.430,66.430) Forests 14 8 1641
institution Open Polar
collection Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles
op_collection_id ftdoajarticles
language English
topic soil–plant system
potentially toxic elements
Yakutia
pollution index
bioaccumulation factor
biochemical situation
Plant ecology
QK900-989
spellingShingle soil–plant system
potentially toxic elements
Yakutia
pollution index
bioaccumulation factor
biochemical situation
Plant ecology
QK900-989
Anna Gololobova
Yana Legostaeva
An Assessment of the Impact of the Mining Industry on Soil and Plant Contamination by Potentially Toxic Elements in Boreal Forests
topic_facet soil–plant system
potentially toxic elements
Yakutia
pollution index
bioaccumulation factor
biochemical situation
Plant ecology
QK900-989
description This study was conducted in the territory of the industrial site of the Udachny Mining and Processing Division (Yakutia, northeast Russia). The objects of study were permafrost soils and two species of shrubs ( Betula middendorffii T. and Duschekia fruticose R.). Soil and plant samples were analyzed using atomic absorption spectrometry for the presence of PTEs (Pb, Ni, Mn, Cd, Co, Cr, Zn, Cu, and As). The bioaccumulation factor ( BAF ), frequency of occurrence ( Hi ), pollution index ( PI ), and pollution load index ( PLI ) were calculated. The PI and PLI are calculated for both soil and two plant species for the first time in this study. The results showed that the soils have a high Ni, Cr, Co, As, and Mn content. It has been established that high soil pollution naturally leads to an increase in the concentration of elements in the leaves of shrubs. The soils and vegetation are dominated by elements associated with trap magmatism—Cr, Co, Cu, and dolerite dikes—Mn and Zn. For Betula middendorffii , the PLI was classified as unpolluted to moderately polluted, and Duschekia fruticosa. was classified as unpolluted. The high level of contamination is typical for areas located near industrial sites, such as waste dumps, kimberlite pipes, tailings ponds, and roads. The BAF results confirmed that the leaves of Betula middendorffii are able to accumulate more PTEs and have the highest level of resistance to PTE contamination in mining environments. This analysis showed that the consistent application of the PI , PLI , and BAF indices is very efficient in the ecological and biogeochemical assessment of the situation in industrial development areas.
format Article in Journal/Newspaper
author Anna Gololobova
Yana Legostaeva
author_facet Anna Gololobova
Yana Legostaeva
author_sort Anna Gololobova
title An Assessment of the Impact of the Mining Industry on Soil and Plant Contamination by Potentially Toxic Elements in Boreal Forests
title_short An Assessment of the Impact of the Mining Industry on Soil and Plant Contamination by Potentially Toxic Elements in Boreal Forests
title_full An Assessment of the Impact of the Mining Industry on Soil and Plant Contamination by Potentially Toxic Elements in Boreal Forests
title_fullStr An Assessment of the Impact of the Mining Industry on Soil and Plant Contamination by Potentially Toxic Elements in Boreal Forests
title_full_unstemmed An Assessment of the Impact of the Mining Industry on Soil and Plant Contamination by Potentially Toxic Elements in Boreal Forests
title_sort assessment of the impact of the mining industry on soil and plant contamination by potentially toxic elements in boreal forests
publisher MDPI AG
publishDate 2023
url https://doi.org/10.3390/f14081641
https://doaj.org/article/94acf1dec639482fb79f9167730bd021
long_lat ENVELOPE(112.402,112.402,66.430,66.430)
geographic Udachny
geographic_facet Udachny
genre permafrost
Yakutia
genre_facet permafrost
Yakutia
op_source Forests, Vol 14, Iss 1641, p 1641 (2023)
op_relation https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/14/8/1641
https://doaj.org/toc/1999-4907
doi:10.3390/f14081641
1999-4907
https://doaj.org/article/94acf1dec639482fb79f9167730bd021
op_doi https://doi.org/10.3390/f14081641
container_title Forests
container_volume 14
container_issue 8
container_start_page 1641
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