East European Plain

The content of many elements in the roots and in the aerial parts of herbaceous plant species is different. In the root mass of grasses the content of heavy metals 

Trace metals Legumes Grasses Forage crops 

However, in the halo of dispersion of ore deposits many metals (Cu, Mo, Ag, Pg) frequently occur at higher concentrations in the aerial parts (Kovalevsky, 1984). This enlarges greatly the risk of pollutants accumulation in the biogeochemical food webs (Bashkin, 2002). 

With aridity increasing, various plant species of forage crops become gradually less numerous to finally disappear. In Dry Steppe ecosystems xerophylic half-shrubs and salt-tolerant plants replace the grasses. However, the ash content is higher in these species. This is attributed not only to a higher concentration of major ash elements in the plant tissue, but also to the exposure to finely dispersed dust adhered to the plants exterior (Table 9). 

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Table 3. Comparative assessment of heavy metal contents in surface waters of various ecosystems from the East European Plain and average values for the similar global...

Table 5. Distribution of Co in Calcaric Chernozem and Chestnut soil of Meadow Steppe ecosystem in the south part of East European Plain.

Table 8. Biogeochemical exposure to heavy metals in the main botanical groups of Meadow Steppe ecosystems of East European Plain, accumulation, mg/kg by dry weight (after Dobrovolsky, 1994).

Figure 3. Coefficients of bio geochemical uptake of heavy metals by typical plant species of Meadow Steppe Ecosystems of East European Plain. Aerial parts 1—legumes 2—grasses 3—forage crops roots 4—legumes, 5—grasses, 6—forage crops (Dobrovolsky, 1994).

Priputina, I., Tankanag, A., Abramychev, A., Bashkin, V. (1999). Biogeochemical data used for estimation of critical loads of heavy metals on the ecosystems of East-European plain. // Calculations and mapping of critical loads for air pollutants relevant to the UN/ECE Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution. Proceedings of the Workshop at Pushchino, Sept. 27-Oct. 2,1999. Moscow. POLTEX. pp. 65-71. 

Meadow Steppe ecosystems of the East European plain... 

It is well known that the total content of water-soluble solids in natural waters (TSS) is increasing with an increasing aridity. The concentration of some trace elements correlates significantly with the total content of soluble solids (see Chapter 4, Section 4, for boron, for example). Comparison of the trace element contents in surface waters in the area of East European Plain has shown certain relationships between surface water chemistry and ecosystem types. These data are summarized in Table 30. 

VSEVOLODOVA-PEREL T s and BULATOVA N SH (2008) Polyploid races of earthworms (Lumbricidae, Oligochaeta) in the East European plain and Siberia. Biol Bull 35, 385-388. 

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