A Comparison of Co-Occurrence of Special Forms of Selected Metals in Soil, on the Example of Sycamore, Beech, and Spruce Forest Complexes in Urbanized and Non-Urbanized Regions of Tatra National Park

Abstract

One of the most important issues considered in ecotoxicology is the elevated accumulation of different elements in soil as a consequence of anthropogenic activities. In this paper, determination of nine elements in soil obtained from three different forest complexes (sycamore, beech, and spruce) in urbanized and non-urbanized regions of Tatra National Park is presented. Additionally, a comprehensive presentation of detailed results of correlation analyses between individual elements in accordance to each valley, as well as to selected species of trees, is shown.Speciation studies included chemical forms of the following elements: Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu, Pb, Cd, Ni, Cr, Co. Soil extracts were obtained in accordance with Rudd's methodology and all species were determined using atomic absorption spectrophotometry (AAS). The study compares the content of selected chemical forms (exchangeable and adsorbed, organic solutions and carbonates) of chosen metals in soil of four valleys of Tatra National Park: Chochołowska,