Assessment of selected heavy metals and enzyme activity in soils within the zone of influence of various tree species.

ABSTRACT

The study aimed to evaluate the total content and bioavailable forms of Zn, Cu, Pb and Ni and enzymatic activity (nitro reductase and peroxidases) in the mineral levels of surface soils within the zone of influence of various tree species. The conducted variance analysis confirmed the significant impact of the studied tree habitats on the total content and bioavailable forms of metals and on enzymatic activity. The total content of analysed metals were low and in no case exceeded the possible concentrations. The high bioavailability (AF %) values calculated for habitats of different species compositions (of 53.78% for Zn, 76.82% for Cu, 60.81% for Pb and 44.72% for Ni) may pose a risk of accumulation of these metals in plants. A significant correlation was found between nitrate reduction activity and Pb content (r = 0.510) and Cu (r = 0.678). Principal component analysis allowed two principal components to be distinguished (PC1 and PC2) that accounted for 60.95% of the total change in variance.