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Chemical composition of the leaves of Reynoutria japonica Houtt. and soil features in polluted areas

  • Research Article
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Central European Journal of Biology

Abstract

The study was conducted on six sites that are dominated by Japanese knotweed (Reynoutria japonica) and that vary in the level of industrialization and habitat transformation by humans. The aim of the research was to investigate the chemical-physical features of soil under a closed and dense canopy of R. japonica, the chemical composition of the R. japonica leaves, and to compare the content of certain elements in the soil-plant-soil system. The soil organic carbon (Corg) content varied from 1.38±0.004% to 8.2±0.047% and the maximum in leaves was 49.11±0.090%. The lowest levels of total nitrogen (Ntot) in soil were recorded on the heavily disturbed sites (till 0.227±0.021%). Soil pH varied greatly, ranging from acidic (pH=4.0) to neutral (pH=7.7). Heavy metal content differed significantly among the study sites. At all of the sites, both in the case of soil and plant leaves, Zn was a dominant element and its concentration ranged from 41.5 to 501.2 mg·kg−1 in soils and from 38.6 to 541.7 mg·kg−1 in leaves. Maximum accumulations of P (2103.3±15.3 mg·kg−1) and S (2571.7±17.6 mg·kg−1) were observed on the site that had been influenced by agricultural practices. The results obtained showed that R. japonica is able to accumulate high levels of heavy metals.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physical Geography, University of Silesia, PL-41-200, Sosnowiec, Poland

    Oimahmad Rahmonov, Andrzej Czylok, Leszek Majgier & Tomasz Parusel

  2. Department of Ecology, University of Silesia, PL-40-007, Katowice, Poland

    Anna Orczewska

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  1. Oimahmad Rahmonov
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  2. Andrzej Czylok
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  5. Tomasz Parusel
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Correspondence to Oimahmad Rahmonov.

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Rahmonov, O., Czylok, A., Orczewska, A. et al. Chemical composition of the leaves of Reynoutria japonica Houtt. and soil features in polluted areas. cent.eur.j.biol. 9, 320–330 (2014). https://doi.org/10.2478/s11535-013-0267-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/s11535-013-0267-9

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