The concentration of heavy metals in plants is largely dependent on their content in soil; whereas their concentration in animal bodies, on their amount in food. The species of plants and animals are also important. Animals absorb only mobile forms of elements, so the pollutant concentration in animals will reflect the actual contamination of the ecosystem rather than its potential contamination, which is obtained from measuring the pollutant concentration in soil or plants. Inhabitants of accumulating substrate represented by soil invertebrates (who integrate the combined impact of both abiotic and biotic factors) play an active part in the transformation and redistribution of organic matter, as well as in the destructive and soil-forming processes. Correspondence between the range of edaphic conditions that determine the normal activity of soil organisms and the certain community structure enhances the possibilities in bio-identification of various types of soils and processes operating in them. For the purposes of bio-indication, the soil mesofauna constituting 90-99% of biomass and 95% of all animal species included in the land biocenosis is of great interest. Soil invertebrates, which are suitable for indication, have a number of advantages. They are quite numerous in disturbed biotopes, are sedentary, closely contact with the soil; they are the most sensitive to various changes in the environment, to radiation, to pollution of heavy metals; they are accumulators of some chemical elements, have a wide range; and the methods of sampling them are developed well enough. Earthworms everywhere turned out to be the most sensitive group to the pollution impact. They accurately reflect the concentration of metals in soil and accumulate metals in 3-5 times higher amount than their content in soil. Earthworms largely concentrate magnesium, iron, copper, lead, manganese, and zinc. The use of soil macrofauna in ecological and geological studies of pollution with heavy metals and metalloids in the residential areas, performed in this work, allowed us to determine unambiguously the composition of multi-element anomalies, their bioavailability and to establish the origin (natural and / or technogenic) of each of the components (elements).
Translated title of the contributionZOOINDICATION (LUMBRICINA FAMILY) IN ECOLOGICAL AND GEOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT OF THE SOIL STATE IN RESIDENTIAL AREAS
Original languageRussian
Pages (from-to)69-80
Number of pages12
JournalГеоэкология. Инженерная геология. Гидрогеология. Геокриология
Issue number1
StatePublished - 2016

    Research areas

  • SOIL MESOFAUNA, heavy metals, residential areas, ZOOINDICATION

ID: 38428693