DISTRIBUTION OF ELEMENTS ALONG THE LENGTH OF SCOTS PINE NEEDLES IN A HEAVILY POLLUTED AND A CONTROL ENVIRONMENT

Pollution often causes visible symptoms of foliar injury. The injury i s sometimes associated with an increase in the accessibility of toxic elements to plants as a result of acidification of the soil. We invest igated the distribution of elements (N, P, K, Ca, Mg, Mn, S, Fe, B, Cu , Zn, Al, F, Pb, Cd, Cr, Ni and Co) in healthy current-year needles of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) growing at an unpolluted control sit e and at a site polluted mainly by SO2. HF and Al3+ from a fertilizer factory established in 1917. Needles from both sites were sampled befo re the appearance of visible injury and cut into five sections of equa l length (tip, base and three middle parts). The mean concentrations o f major nutrients were 20-30% lower in needles at the polluted site th an in needles at the control site, whereas the concentrations of alumi num and fluorine were higher in needles at the polluted site. An incre ase in concentration from needle base to tip was detected for N, Fe, B , and Al at both sites and for Mn only at the polluted site. Fluoride accumulated in the tips of needles only at the polluted site, which co uld explain the necroses of needle tips at this site. The distribution of elements along the length of the needles was influenced by polluti on, element mobility and the distal accumulation of toxic elements.