Azadeh Salehi, Masoud Tabari, Jahangarad Mohammadi:
Accumulation of Fe, Mn, Cr, Pb and Ni in Soil and Leaf of Pinus eldarica Medw. Trees Following Irrigation with Municipal Effluent in Iran

AZADEH SALEHI¹, MASOUD TABARI¹, JAHANGARAD MOHAMMADI^2
1Tarbiat Modares University, Forestry Department, Iran
²Shahrekord University, Soil Science Department, Iran

As a whole, water is counted the most vital source for afforestation especially in the dry zones. On one side, it is viewed that municipal effluent can be used to cover the needs of city and jungle parks on its vicinity as well as industrial complexes in order to develop green space and decrease air pollution. In reality, municipal effluent other than safeguarding water for the plantations and also saving the water resources is counted as an overflowing source of nutrient element. Apart from this, in the case of the utilisation of effluent mixed with harmful heavy metals lead to decrease the toxicity, through a developed rooting system (acquired from afforestation) and as such, play important and fundamental role for the environmental protection. However, this also can not be ignored that the use of effluent for irrigation purpose might strike ecosystem. Therefore, decision about the application of effluent should be decided based on specialties of water, soil, plant and environment of every location In this study, the accumulation of heavy metals was studied in samples of soil and leaf of Pinus eldarica Medw. trees in two afforestation irrigated by municipal effluent and well water in south of Tehran. For this purpose, four sample plots (30m x 30m) were randomly chosen in either of both areas. In each plot, samples of leaf and soil (0-15, 15-30, 30-60 depths) were taken in four replications. Concentration of Fe, Mn, Cr, Pb and Ni in samples of soil and leaf were determined in laboratory. The results revealed that the concentration of Fe and Mn in leaf of Pinus eldarica Medw. trees and Concentrations of Fe, Mn, Cr, Pb and Ni in soil were significantly greater in area irrigated with municipal effluent than in well water. The results do not show any Cr, Pb and Ni in samples leaf.

Keywords: Heavy metals, irrigation, municipal effluent, Pinus eldarica, soil pollution, Iran

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Contact Address: Azadeh Salehi, Tarbiat Modares University, Forestry DepartmentDepartment of Forestry Faculty of Natural Resources and Marine Sciences Tarbiat Modares University, 46414-356 Noor, Mazandaran, Iran, Iran, e-mail: neda forestyahoo.com