Selected elements in fruits of Sorbus aucuparia in the Tatra Mountains and urbanized areas of its foreland

Abstract

Sorbus acuparia is an important pioneer tree for the ontogeny of forest stands, and its fruits can be an important food source for animals during periods of scarcity of their primary food. In the present work, we focused on different elements (trace and nutrient) in rowan fruits in 11 Tatra valleys. Fruits were also collected in urban areas around the Tatra Mountains. A total of 150 samples were collected and evaluated. We analyzed the relationship of element accumulation with altitude and compared sites and fruits from urban centers. The whole process may be influenced by anthropogenic human activities that increase these concentrations in the air. Clear representatives of such activities are enterprises and factories located in the adjacent parts of large cities such as Poprad, Liptovský Mikuláš, Ružomberok and others. Increased concentrations of metals such as Cl, Ca, and Hg were found in these cities and, conversely, metals such as S, Mn, Rb, and Pb were predominant in the mountains. When comparing the northern and southern parts of the valleys, it was the valley samples from the northern parts of the mountains that were more contaminated with pollutants than the southern ones. Finally, we also showed a relationship between the contaminated samples obtained along major roads and hiking trails.