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Forests
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Soil Pollution and Remediation of Forests Soil
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Soil Pollution and Remediation of Forests Soil

A special issue of Forests (ISSN 1999-4907). This special issue belongs to the section "Forest Soil".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 January 2025 | Viewed by 4237

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Katarzyna Maria Wiatrowska

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Soil Science, Land Reclamation and Geodesy, Poznań University of Life Sciences, Piątkowska 94, 60-649 Poznań, Poland
Interests: soil contamination; trace elements (heavy metals); soil remediation; soil quality; water chemistry
Dr. Justyna Likus-Cieślik

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Ecological Engineering and Forest Hydrology, University of Agriculture in Krakow, 29 Listopada 46, 31-425 Krakow, Poland
Interests: post-mining sites; soil restoration; sulfur contamination; forest ecology; water chemistry; AMD

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Forest ecosystems are an important part of terrestrial landscapes, covering nearly one-third of them. These ecosystems provide a vast range of services, such as ensuring biodiversity, socio-cultural benefits, and climate regulation. Unfortunately, forests are undergoing anthropogenic stress. The emission and increasing content of pollutants like trace elements or sulfur and nitrogen oxides, among others, connected to industries, might significantly affect these ecosystems. On the other hand, many countries are introducing policies to convert areas polluted or significantly altered by industry into forests in order to reduce the possible negative impact of these sites on human health or the environment. Therefore, we must to improve our knowledge about the ability of forest to purify pollutants and the mechanism of forest restoration in post-industrial areas to plan and develop more efficient remediation and reclamation methods.

Potential topics in this Special Issue include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • The spatial variability of harmful substances content and metal speciation in forest soil;
  • The heavy metals and harmful substances on forest ecosystem;
  • Ecotoxicological responses and phytoremediation of forest stands;
  • Pollution control and strategies for the management and decontamination of forest areas;
  • The restoration of forest ecosystems in post-industrial areas.

Dr. Katarzyna Maria Wiatrowska
Dr. Justyna Likus-Cieślik
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Forests is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • soil contamination
  • heavy metals
  • risk assessment
  • bioavailability of pollutant
  • phytoremediation
  • forest on post-industrial area
  • forestry reclamation

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 21755 KiB  
Article
Ecological Risk Assessment, Distribution and Source of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in the Soil of Urban and Suburban Forest Areas of Southern Poland
by Stanisław Łyszczarz, Jarosław Lasota and Ewa Błońska
Forests 2024, 15(4), 595; https://doi.org/10.3390/f15040595 - 25 Mar 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1332
Abstract
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are widespread environmental pollutants that can pose a risk to people living near contaminated soils. The role of forest ecosystems around urban agglomerations as a draw to urban dwellers has been highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The [...] Read more.
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are widespread environmental pollutants that can pose a risk to people living near contaminated soils. The role of forest ecosystems around urban agglomerations as a draw to urban dwellers has been highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic led us to focus this study on the soils beneath forested areas around urban agglomerations, with the aim of assessing the sources and ecological risk of PAHs in the soils. For the study, a 150 km transect was delineated by six sampling sites, located in urban and commercial forests, which were characterised by the same species composition. Samples were taken from the 0–10 cm depth horizon, after removal of the organic layer. The content of 16 PAHs was determined, from which the potential source of contamination, the toxic equivalent quotient (TEQ), the potential ecological risk quotient (RQ) and the incremental lifetime cancer risk quotient (ILCR) were calculated. The mean sums of the PAHs ranged from 12.41 to 52.76 μg·kg−1. Our analysis indicated that the share of pollutants in the soils had resulted from industrial combustion, biomass and coal combustion, and traffic. The RQ of the PAHs in the soils of the Upper Silesian Industrial Region, or within its impact range, were found to be low to moderate. High ILCR ratios for children (1.9 × 10−4) and adults (8.38 × 10−5) were recorded in soils related to a refinery. Our findings confirm that forests around urban areas are vulnerable to pollution. People living in cities should consider spending their leisure time in forest areas at a distance from their homes. Systematic and continuous monitoring of PAHs is necessary to ensure that human safety is guaranteed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil Pollution and Remediation of Forests Soil)
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24 pages, 3468 KiB  
Article
Drought Differently Modifies Tolerance and Metal Uptake in Zn- or Cu-Treated Male and Female Salix × fragilis L.
by Kinga Drzewiecka, Monika Gąsecka, Zuzanna Magdziak, Michał Rybak, Sylwia Budzyńska, Paweł Rutkowski, Przemysław Niedzielski and Mirosław Mleczek
Forests 2024, 15(3), 562; https://doi.org/10.3390/f15030562 - 20 Mar 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1129
Abstract
The aim of this study was to determine the tolerance to metals (Zn, Cu) and drought of male and female Salix × fragilis L. under isolated and combined treatments, and to assess the metal uptake and profiling of metabolic plant responses. The 14-day [...] Read more.
The aim of this study was to determine the tolerance to metals (Zn, Cu) and drought of male and female Salix × fragilis L. under isolated and combined treatments, and to assess the metal uptake and profiling of metabolic plant responses. The 14-day experiment was performed in a hydroponic system, and metals were applied at 1.5 mM in a Knop’s solution. Drought simulation was achieved by adding sorbitol at a moderate level (200 mM). Isolated Zn treatment enhanced plant growth, more pronouncedly in females. Equimolar Cu treatment caused diverse reactions, and females exhibited significantly higher tolerance. Male specimens were less tolerant to isolated drought and to combined drought and metal presence. The highest contents of Cu and Zn were found in roots, compared to the aboveground tissues (wooden rods and leaves), of both female and male metal-treated plants. Simultaneously applied drought limited Zn accumulation in roots and elevated its translocation to leaves while increasing Cu accumulation, predominantly in females showing higher tolerance. Both isolated and combined drought and metals reduced leaf water content, caused the allocation of mineral nutrients (Ca, Mg, K, and Na), and affected metabolism in a stressor-specific and sex-dependent manner. For males, Cu accumulation in the leaves was significantly correlated with the majority of metabolites, while for both sexes, kaempferol and salicylic acid were strongly correlated, indicating their role in tolerance against the metal. The obtained results are an excellent starting point for the practical use of male and female Salix × fragilis L. in areas heavily polluted with Cu or Zn and exposed to drought, for the purpose of their recultivation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil Pollution and Remediation of Forests Soil)
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18 pages, 2135 KiB  
Article
The Phytoremediation Potential of 14 Salix Clones Grown in Pb/Zn and Cu Mine Tailings
by Chenggang Jiang, Yangdong Wang, Yitai Chen, Shufeng Wang, Changcheng Mu and Xiang Shi
Forests 2024, 15(2), 257; https://doi.org/10.3390/f15020257 - 29 Jan 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1141
Abstract
Willows are suitable candidates for phytoremediation projects. A pot experiment was conducted to evaluate the potential of using Salix unrooted cuttings for the phytoremediation of lead/zinc (Pb/Zn) and copper (Cu) mine tailings. Cuttings of 14 Salix clones were directly rooted into pots containing [...] Read more.
Willows are suitable candidates for phytoremediation projects. A pot experiment was conducted to evaluate the potential of using Salix unrooted cuttings for the phytoremediation of lead/zinc (Pb/Zn) and copper (Cu) mine tailings. Cuttings of 14 Salix clones were directly rooted into pots containing mine tailings. The 14 clones showed different levels of tolerance to tailing treatments. A total of 71.40% and 85.70% of the S. jiangsuensis ‘172’ cuttings either grown in Pb/Zn or Cu tailings survived, respectively. However, the other clones had lower survival rates, and the values were no more than 40%. Usually, all clones produce less biomass in an extremely contaminated environment. Clonal variation in biomass yield was observed in this research. The surviving clones, such as S. integra ‘WSH’, S. matsudana ‘14’, S. chaenomeloides ‘3’, S. chaenomeloides ‘4’, and S. chaenomeloides ‘5’ (Pb/Zn tailing), S. integra ‘HY’, S. integra ‘WSH’, S. matsudana ‘14’, S. matsudana ‘19’, and S. matsudana ‘34’ (Cu tailing) produced relatively more biomass in this study. In general, all the clones presented lower bioconcentration factor values for the tailings of heavy metals. In principle, all clones could easily take up and translocate Zn and Cd from the tailings to aboveground parts, especially S. integra. All clones exhibited a huge variation in their heavy metal accumulation capacity. As stated above, the direct utilization of cuttings for phytoremediation is a viable option. S. jiangsuensis ‘172’ had a high tolerance capacity and would be a recommended candidate for future phytoremediation projects in soils containing tailings with an extremely high concentration of heavy metals. These results provide crucial information about willow growth and metal accumulation capacity in extremely adverse environments. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Soil Pollution and Remediation of Forests Soil)
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