Monitoring and assessment of the effect of benzo (a) pyrene for coniferous and deciduous plants in anthropogenically polluted areas

Abstract

Benzo (a) pyrene content in plants and soils in anthropogenically polluted areas pollution was monitored. The influence of benzo (a) pyrene on conifers and deciduous plants was assessed. In forests with Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) and silver birch (Betula pendula) trunks, the content of lignin, cellulose, and extractive low molecular weight polar substances was determined by the concentration of benzo (a) pyrene and tree species. In forest ecosystems, the background content of carcinogen (1–5 μg / kg) did not affect the content of lignin and cellulose, but stimulated the synthesis of extractive substances, especially in birch. For pine, there was a direct correlation between the concentration of benzo (a) pyrene in two -year-old needles and its peroxidase activity. An increase in the activity of oxidoreductases and their participation in the synthesis of phenolic, tannin and other organic (extractive) substances, depending on the concentration of benzo (a) pyrene, indicate its biostimulating properties. Various physiological and biochemical reactions in woody and herbaceous plants were analyzed depending on the concentration (dose) of benzo (a) pyrene in the composition of plants and in soils polluted by anthropogenic emissions. Opposite reactions of coniferous and leafy trees to benzo (a) pyrene were observed. On the basis of own and published data, the natural, intermediate transitional and technogenic ranges of benzo (a) pyrene concentrations have been identified; among which the effect on plants varies from stimulating to inhibitory.