Volume 27 (2016): Issue 1 (March 2016)

Physicochemical properties of soils have a significant impact on the growth and development of vegetation. In urban areas, because of increased human activity, changes occur in both grain-size composition as well as physical and chemical properties of soils. These soils are frequently saline and contaminated with heavy metals, which limit the development of vegetation and cause its necrosis. Elm is a commonly growing tree with low habitat requirements, whose population has been considerably reduced because of progressing Dutch elm disease. This study attempts to assess the relationship of dependency between physicochemical parameters of soils and health status of elms from the area of the City of Kielce. Two elms were selected for the study, that is, one alive tree being a natural monument and one necrotic tree. The soil analysis concerned physicochemical parameters such as size composition, reaction, salinity measured by means of proper electrolyte conductivity (PEC), acidity, organic carbon content, carbonates, nitrogen, and selected elements including heavy metals (Cu, Pb, Zn, Cd, Mn). The study indicates differentiation amongst the physicochemical parameters of the analysed soils. A characteristic feature of the soils being the habitat of the necrotic elm is that they have considerably higher salinity than those being the habitat of the alive elm. Increased levels of sodium and chlorides could negatively affect water transportation in vegetation what might have resulted, amongst others, in necrosis of the tree.

The aim of the study was to compare the toleration of Poa pratensis, Lolium perenne and Festuca rubra to cadmium contamination as well as the phytoremediation potential of these three species of grass. The pot experiment was conducted in four replications in pots containing 2.0 kg of soil. The soil was contaminated with three doses of Cd – 30, 60 and 120 mg·kg⁻¹. After two months, the aerial parts of plants were harvested. The roots were dug up, brushed off from the remaining soil and washed with water. The biomass was defined and the cadmium concentration was determined in aerial parts and roots. The phytoremediation potential of grasses was evaluated using biomass of grasses, bioaccumulation factor (BF) and translocation factor (TF). All three tested species of grasses had TF < 1 and BF-root > 1. It indicates their suitability for phytostabilisation and makes them unsuitable for phytoextraction of Cd from the soil. Comparing the usefulness of the tested grasses for phytoremediation has shown that the phytostabilisation potential of P. pratensis was lower than that of L. perenne and F. rubra. P. pratensis was distinguished by higher TF, smaller root biomass and lower tolerance for Cd excess in the soil in comparison with the two other test grasses. At the same time, L. perenne was characterised by the smallest decrease in biomass and the largest Cd accumulation in roots at the lowest dose of Cd. It indicates good usefulness for phytostabilisation of soils characterised by a relatively small pollution by cadmium.

This study assessed the influence of liming and waste organic materials on the yield and nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium contents in cock’s-foot (Dactylis glomerata L.) grown on nickel-contaminated soil in the third year of a pot culture experiment. In the experiment, the following factors were taken into consideration: (1) nickel soil contamination (0, 75, 150 and 225 mg Ni·kg⁻¹ of soil); (2) liming (0 Ca and Ca according to 1 Hh of soil) and (3) organic materials (no waste organic materials added, brown coal from a coal mine in Turów and rye straw). Introducing nickel into the soil, regardless of its amount, caused a significant decrease in the total yield of cock’s-foot and increased the nitrogen and potassium contents. Liming caused a significant increase in the yield of cock’s-foot and decrease its potassium content, but it did not clearly differentiate the nitrogen and phosphorus content. The used organic materials (straw and brown coal) caused a decrease in the phosphorus content in the grass biomass.

The aim of the study was to determine the influence of increasing cobalt soil contamination (0 mg·kg⁻¹, 20 mg·kg⁻¹, 40 mg·kg⁻¹, 80 mg·kg⁻¹, 160 mg·kg⁻¹, 320 mg·kg⁻¹) after the application of neutralising substances on selected soil properties. In the soil without an addition of neutralising substances, the highest doses of cobalt caused the pH, total exchangeable bases, cation exchange capacity and the degree of base saturation to decrease and the hydrolytic acidity of soil to increase. Among the substances used, zeolite and calcium oxide (particularly) had the most advantageous influence on the analysed soil properties. They caused the pH, total exchangeable bases and cation exchange capacity to increase and the hydrolytic acidity to decrease. Among the other substances, it was charcoal that had the greatest influence on the soil properties, but the way it influenced the total exchangeable bases, the cation exchange capacity of soil and the degree of base saturation were opposite to the way calcium oxide influenced these properties.

Although the phytoplankton indices describing the response of phytoplankton to the eutrophication have been developed and used for many years in the routine lake monitoring programme in some countries, the implementation of the Water Framework Directive (WFD) [EC, 2000] stimulated the development and improvement of quite a number of the current WFD-compliant phytoplankton-based methods. This paper is a review of the current phytoplankton-based methods for assessing the ecological status of European lakes. The particular attention was paid to the ways of solving problems arising from the need to reflect the complex and dynamic plankton algal communities on a numerical scale in order to gain reliable information about the state of the ecosystem.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the Scabiosa ochroleuca suitability for growth on heavy metals contaminated substrate obtained as a result of Zn–Pb ores exploitation and their processing. Three variants of cultivation were tested in vegetative hall conditions: post-flotation wastes (control), wastes enriched with either mineral fertilisation or with sewage sludge. The possibility of future direct use of the studied species on post-flotation settling pond was determined on the basis of biometric measurements and analysis efficiency of photosynthetic apparatus, that is, pigments content and chlorophyll a fluorescence. The results showed that untreated wastes negatively influenced on plants morphological and physiological status. On the contrary, the application of sewage sludge improved growth and development of cream scabious. Thus, not only the selection of proper plant material, tolerant to toxic levels of heavy metals and other hostile conditions, but also the waste treatment are crucial when metalliferous areas are to be reclaimed.

The aim of the presented study was to determine the toxicity of wastewater from the production of coke. The wastewater was treated with advanced oxidation involving ultrasonic field with Fenton’s reagent (the amplitude was 61.5 μm and sonication time 8 min). Two doses of iron and four doses of hydrogen peroxide were used. The amount of hydrogen peroxide was proportional to the value of the chemical oxygen demand of raw wastewater, ranging from COD/H₂O₂ ratio of 1:2.5 to 1:20. Two tests were used to determine the toxicity (algae growth inhibition test and Lepidium test). It was found that more toxic to algae was wastewater treated by Fenton’s reagent containing a higher dose of iron. A similar inhibitory effect was observed on the germination of cress seeds.