Radionuclides, Macro- and Microelements in the Thalli of Taiga Fruticose Lichens of the European Northeast

Abstract

The presented work was aimed at studying the features of accumulation of radionuclides ²¹⁰Po and ²¹⁰Pb, as well as micro- (Cu, Pb, Zn, Ni, Ba, V, Ti, Sr) and macroelements (Mn, Fe, Al) by fruticose epiphytic (Bryoria spp., Usnea spp.) and epigeal (Cladonia spp.) lichens in the middle and northern taiga subzone of the European Northeast (Komi Republic, Russia). Lichens were collected from forests of seven municipalities. Areas with combined radiation and chemical pollution were also included in the study. The relevance of the study is related to the increasing anthropogenic load worldwide, insufficient data on the concentrations of the studied elements in the environment of Komi Republic, their potential toxicity, including high radioactive toxicity of ²¹⁰Po and ²¹⁰Pb, as well as the possibility of using these lichens for bioindication of various pollutants, including radioactive ones. It has been established that the accumulation of chemical elements by lichens differs both for areas with different technogenic loads, and for different ecological-substrate groups of lichens. Based on the data from correlation analysis, principal component analysis (PCA), as well as enrichment factors (EF) of lichens with chemical elements, the features of their intake into lichen thalli were studied. It was concluded that in the taiga zone epiphytes may be the preferable bioindicators of elements that enter the Earth's surface with air. Epigeal lichen Cladonia also showed good accumulating ability for ²¹⁰Po, ²¹⁰Pb, as well as microelements in areas with their high content in soils.