Ecological and Geochemical Assessment of Woody Vegetation in Tungsten-Molybdenum Mining Area (Buryat Republic, Russia)

Biogeochemical studies performed in the impact zone of the Dzhida tungsten- molybdenum mining and processing enterprise in Zakamensk (Buryat Republic, Russia) in 2013 showed that the needles and bark of Lárix sibírica Ledeb. and the leaves and bark of Bétula platyphýlla Sukacs are characterized by certain changes in their trace element (TE) composition. The total index of the biogeochemical transformation Z_v which sums all the positive and negative deviations of TE contents from the background values for larch and birch in the city averaged 95 and 46 for their assimilating organs and 30 and 25 for their perennial organs, respectively. This was caused by the increased uptake of W, Mo, V, Pb, Bi, Cd, and Co in the city. The close correlation between TE concentrations in soils and plants was observed for the elements of the strong and moderate biological capturing, including cationic Cu, Zn, Sr, Cd, and Ba and anions of the ore elements W and Mo and the associated Bi. The most intensive TE accumulation was found in the larch needles due to the wax layer which firmly fixes the dust enriched with TEs. Indication of the ecological state of urban woody plants revealed that their organs contain the increased concentrations of Pb and Fe and suffer from the Mn deficiency, which attests to disturbance of photosynthetic processes, most pronounced in the residential area. Birch leaves are characterized by a very low Cu/Zn ratio which detects the imbalance of these elements participating in the synthesis of enzymes.