The concentrations of K, Rb and Cs in spruce needles (Picea abies Karst.) and in the associated soils

Abstract

Zusammenfassung nK elemend comnrfations of K. Rb and Cc were delemined in needles from individual spruce tms as a function of the needle age class. The concentrations am highest in cumnt year's needles and decrease smoothly in older needles, approaching a constant value. Rb and Cs show similar behaviour. whmas that of K differs in so far as its rclative decnasc with lime is less pronounced. Intm-and intersite variation of the needk concentrations 811: largest for Cs and smallest for K. Individual trees show a highly significant conelation between the log (Cs) and log (Rb) values.Total soil concentrations wen determined at 9 sites with different parent material. InIraand intersite variations of K are compnrahle for soils and for neodlcs. whcrcas those for Rb and Cs arc much smaller for soils than for needles. All the elements arc conelated in soil samples.That is no close connection between soil and needle concentrations at the various sites. However. the results suggest that needle concentrations of Rb and Cs. but noi of K. are strongly dependent on the sorp(ion propcnies of the associated soils. Pflanzenernahr. Bodenk,, 158,499-504 (1995) 0 VCH Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, D-6945 1 Weinhelm, 1995 0044-3263195fo510-0499 $5.00 + .2S/O

Equilibrium of radiocesium with stable cesium within the biological cycle of contaminated forest ecosystems

“…The lowest concentration values were observed in wood (collected as sawdust from different sections of tree trunk, and measured at Babchin only). This finding agrees with previous studies for radiocesium (Fogh and Andersson, 2001) and for stable Cs , and suggests that Cs tends to be translocated to a growing part of a tree like K, although accumulation and uptake of Cs and K may differ (Wyttenbach et al, 1995). and further supports the hypothesis that 137 Cs is taken up by biota similarly to stable Cs as already mentioned above.…”

Identification of processes governing long-term accumulation of 137 Cs by forest trees following the Chernobyl accident

“…However, it is possible that plants may discriminate against cesium uptake because of the large atomic number [15]. There are also clear differences between the vertical distributions of 137 Cs and 40 K in soil.…”

Mineralogy and biogeochemistry of potassium in the Skogaby experimental forest, southwest Sweden: pools, fluxes and K/Rb ratios in soil and biomass

“…However, in the compilation of data made by Reimann et al (2001), spruce biomass and O horizons on the average had considerably higher K/Rb ratios than C horizon soils, in contrast to the situation at Skogaby. Wyttenbach et al (1995a) argued that the highly variable K/Rb ratios of plants, even within a given plant species, indicates that the uptake of Rb ? is to a greater extent controlled by the precise sorption properties of the soil than by fractionation at the solution-plant interface.…”

“…The complexity of the problem was demonstrated in a study on maize roots by Läuchli and Epstein (1970), where shortage of calcium (Ca) induced preferential loss of K, whereas in the presence of Ca, K and Rb showed a similar behaviour. Wyttenbach et al (1995a) concluded that Rb ? and Cs ?…”