Effects of calcareous and serpentinite parent material on the mineral characteristics of soils and plant material of Teucrium montanum L. (Lamiaceae)

Our plain-English summary of Effects of calcareous and serpentinite parent material on the mineral characteristics of soils and plant material of Teucrium montanum L. (Lamiaceae), by N.M. Zlatić, M.S. Stanković (Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 2019).

The study

• Authors: N.M. Zlatić, M.S. Stanković
• Journal: Environmental Monitoring and Assessment
• Published: 2019;191(9):564
• Cited by: 3 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Abstract

The objective of this study was to determine eco-edaphic characteristics and influence of different substrates on mineral characteristics of facultative serpentinophyte. The total concentration of 20 elements Al, As, B, Ca, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, Li, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni, P, Pb, S, Se, and Zn in soil samples and aboveground parts of medicinal plant species Teucrium montanum from various calcareous and serpentinite habitats in the territory of Serbia was determined. The concentration of the elements was established by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry-ICP-OES. The obtained results showed that the quantities of certain elements Al, As, B, Ca, Cd, Cu, K, Li, P, Se, and Zn were detected more in the soil samples from calcareous habitats in comparison to the quantities of other metals Co, Cr, Fe, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni, which were more frequently found in the soil samples from the serpentinite habitats. Analyzed plant samples from calcareous habitats contained higher concentrations of Al, Ca, Li, and Zn as opposed to serpentinite containing higher concentrations of Co, Cr, Fe, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni, and Se. Examined species can accumulate macro- and microelements in different quantities, depending on the substrate type. Differences in the concentration of certain elements in the soil samples and aboveground parts of the T. montanum from calcareous and serpentinite habitats indicate significant phenotypic plasticity of the investigated species as well as the existence of specific serpentinite ecotypes developed by the activity of various edaphic factors.

In plain English

This field study from Serbia compared soils and plants from two kinds of bedrock: calcareous (limestone-type) rock and serpentinite. The authors collected the medicinal plant Teucrium montanum and the soil around its roots at ten calcareous and ten serpentinite sites in 2016 and 2017. They measured 20 chemical elements, including chromium (Cr), nickel (Ni), cobalt (Co) and arsenic (As). Serpentinite soils had more Co, Cr, Fe, Mg, Mn, Na and Ni. The highest soil nickel level, 1687.16 mg/kg at one serpentinite site, was more than 33 times the highest calcareous-soil level, 50.28 mg/kg. Plants from serpentinite sites also contained more of these metals. For heavy metals, the concentration in the plant was low relative to the soil. Plant potassium concentrations were far above soil levels, up to 39.824 times at one serpentinite site. The authors concluded that the plant is not a metal hyperaccumulator but does accumulate certain major nutrient elements, and that serpentinite populations may form distinct ecotypes. The article does not mention asbestos or mineral fibers and did not study human health.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Field survey comparing soil and plant chemistry between calcareous and serpentinite sites (environmental/botanical study, not a human health study)
• Who was studied: Plants of Teucrium montanum and soil from their root zone at 20 natural sites in Serbia (10 calcareous, 10 serpentinite), sampled during flowering in 2016 and 2017
• Exposure: Type of bedrock (calcareous vs serpentinite) and the concentrations of 20 elements in soil and in aboveground plant parts. No asbestos or mineral fibers were measured.
• Main results:
  • Soils from serpentinite sites had higher Co, Cr, Fe, Mg, Mn, Na and Ni. Soils from calcareous sites had higher Al, As, B, Ca, Cd, Cu, K, Li, P, Se and Zn.
  • Aboveground plant parts from calcareous sites had higher Al, Ca, Li and Zn. Plants from serpentinite sites had higher Co, Cr, Fe, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni and Se.
  • The highest soil nickel was 1687.16 mg/kg, at serpentinite site OR. This was more than 33 times the calcareous-soil level; the highest calcareous-soil nickel in Table 2 is 50.28 mg/kg, at site RA.
  • The highest plant nickel was 37.09 mg/kg, at serpentinite site DI, 10 times higher than in plants from calcareous sites.
  • The highest soil chromium was 910.44 mg/kg, at serpentinite site KJ, more than 18 times the level in calcareous soil.
  • Arsenic was not detected in plant samples from any site except calcareous site KL, where it measured 0.24 mg/kg.
  • Soil pH at calcareous sites ranged from 7.37 to 7.91.
  • Soil pH at serpentinite sites ranged from 6.81 to 7.46.
  • The bioaccumulation factor is the concentration in the plant (mg/kg) divided by the concentration in the soil (mg/kg). For potassium it was highest at calcareous site KO (4.978) and at serpentinite site SZ (Smiljanski zakosi, 39.824).
  • In the authors' interpretation, the values for Al, As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni and Pb showed that the plant does not accumulate these elements or move them into the shoot.
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that, based on the heavy metals in its aboveground parts, T. montanum cannot be labeled a metal-hyperaccumulating plant. They described it as an accumulator of certain major nutrient elements.
• Limitations the authors state:
  • The authors described the share of variation in plant element concentrations explained by the two principal components (29.85%) as low.

Topics

The National Library of Medicine indexes this study under subjects our site covers: Chrysotile.

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Serpentinite.

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