Effects of Organic Materials Obtained from Different Tree Species on Some Chemical Parameters of Water Quality (Study Case of Andirin-Akifiye Forest Management Unit)

Abstract

Mineral substance concentrations are very important in terms of the levels of chemical quality in drinking water. A highly important source of minerals in water comes from the litter layer of the for-est floor which is also a source of organic matter. This research investigates the contribution of or-ganic litter formed in pure pine, cedar and beech forests to the quality parameters of water in the Andirin District of Kahramanmaraş province. A total of 90 organic matter samples were systematical-ly collected from three different forest ecosystems. Some chemical properties of water solution were obtained from the organic matter using the ICP-OES device. This revealed that aluminum, boron, zinc, iron, cadmium, calcium, cobalt, magnesium, manganese, nickel and potassium parameters were present in the water. In addition, pH, EC and temperature measurements were taken. The re-sults revealed lower amounts of chemicals in the waters obtained from the dead vegetation covers of the beech forests, showing elements such as aluminum, iron, magnesium, cobalt, and nickel lev-els to be 0.146 mg; 0.114 μg; 5.54 mg; 0.0006 μg and 0.0054 μg, respectively, compared to waters obtained from cedar and pine forest ecosystems. It was found that different organic materials had significantly different mineral concentrations affecting the chemical quality of the water. However, waters affected by the dead vegetation cover of the forest ecosystem were determined to comply with the standards of drinking and irrigation water according to current regulations.

Keywords

• forest ecosystems
• forest litter layer
• hydrological function
• water quality