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Impact of wildfire on soil characteristics and some metal content in selected plants species of Geraniaceae family

Environmental Earth Sciences volume 73, pages 4581–4594 (2015)Cite this article

Abstract

The aim of this work was to examine the consequences of the wildfire on the differences in qualitative and quantitative composition of the soil, and Cu, Pb, Cd, and Zn levels in the soils and plant species of Geraniaceae family at Vidlic Mountain, Serbia. Main soil characteristics organic matter content, conductivity, redox potential, pH (H2O), pH (KCl), and chloride content in soil samples from post-fire areas and from fire non-disturbed areas were studied. The optimized three-step sequential extraction procedure was applied to the analysis of Cu, Pb, Cd, and Zn levels in the soils. Distribution of heavy metals in aerial parts and roots of examined species was investigated too. For some characteristic parameters of soil, like conductivity, redox potential, chloride content, the impact of fire on the soil habitats followed the same trend for all plants species. Content of copper, lead, and zinc in plant material derived from post-fire areas was generally greater than their content in the plants that grew on the area not exposed to fire. Although the content of cadmium was generally higher in all fractions of the samples from the locality not exposed to the fire, content of that metal in the plant parts was reversed. Most characteristics of soil are significantly altered as a consequence of fire. Majority of soil samples from the post-fire area had increased content of analyzed metals, except cadmium. Fire caused slightly increased bioavailability of the examined metals. The biggest difference in the content of the studied metals in the soil from the post-fire areas and the area not exposed to fire was in the fraction which includes metals associated with organic matter.

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Acknowledgments

The research was supported by the Serbian Ministry of Education and Science (Grant No. 172051).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Nis, Faculty of Science and Mathematics, Department of Chemistry, Visegradska 33, 18000, Nis, Serbia

    Violeta D. Mitic, Vesna P. Stankov Jovanovic & Marija D. Ilic

  2. University of Belgrade, Faculty of Chemistry, Studentski trg 12-16, 11000, Belgrade, Serbia

    Snezana D. Nikolic Mandic

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  1. Violeta D. Mitic
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  2. Vesna P. Stankov Jovanovic
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  3. Marija D. Ilic
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Correspondence to Violeta D. Mitic.

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Mitic, V.D., Stankov Jovanovic, V.P., Ilic, M.D. et al. Impact of wildfire on soil characteristics and some metal content in selected plants species of Geraniaceae family. Environ Earth Sci 73, 4581–4594 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-014-3744-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-014-3744-1

Keywords

  • Geraniaceae family
  • Heavy metals
  • Sequential extraction
  • Soil
  • Wildfire