The state of ionic balance in selected plant species from natural habitats of the Piska Primeval Forest (NE Poland)

Abstract

Abstract The objective of this paper was an attempt to estimate the impact of variable habitat conditions on the ionic state and ionic balance of selected species of plants occurring in an environment with scarce anthropogenic pressure in the Piska Primeval Forest, north-eastern Poland. The analysed mono- and dicotyledonous plants showed very high amounts of total nitrogen, exceeding sum of alkaline cations (Ca2+, Mg2+, K+, Na+), particularly at poor natural habitats (Sphagno-girgensohni-Picetum and Pino-Quercetum communities). Lack of alkaline cations is probably compensated by nitrogen in the form of NH4+, therefore maintaining the ionic balance of cations and anions in plants. Plants inhabiting habitats such as the Tilio-Carpinetum community show very high amounts of potassium. Some potassium radioactivity is probably indispensable for the physiological processes in plants instead of solar radiation