Assessment of the effect of drainage on the accumulation of Zn, Cu, Pb, and Cd in bog plants: a case study of two raised bogs in Western Siberia

Abstract

The lowering of water level caused by bog drainage increases the exposure of the upper layers of peat deposits to oxygen, which leads to an increase in the degree of peat decomposition. Elements become more readily available to plants and their biological absorption increases. The aim of this study is to estimate the differences in element accumulation by plants in pristine and drained areas of bogs. We conducted a study of otherwise similar drained and pristine bog sites. We took samples of four plant species (Chamaedaphne calyculata, Andromeda polifolia, Eriophorum vaginatum and Rhododendron tomentosum) and of the peat in which these plants were growing. We analysed the plants and peat for Zn, Cd, Pb and Cu content. We found an increase in the elemental content of plants in drained areas, but the increase was not always significant. We developed, and tested on our data, a coefficient that takes into account both the ability of a species to absorb elements from peat and differences in element content between the pristine and drained areas, to indicate the effect of drainage.

Keywords

• biomonitoring
• coefficient of biological absorption
• dwarf shrubs
• eriophorum
• heavy metals