Cyanide biota

Cyanide effects on terrestrial plants and invertebrates, aquatic biota, birds, and mammals are numerous and disparate. 

Data on the recovery of cyanide-poisoned ecosystems are scarce. In one case, a large amount of cyanide-containing slag entered a stream from the reservoir of a Japanese gold mine as a result of an earthquake. The slag covered the streambed for about 10 km from the point of rupture, killing all stream biota cyanide was detected in the water column for only 3 d after the spill. Within 1 month, flora was established on the silt covering the abovewater stones, but there was little underwater... 

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