Polluting metals in Russian terrestrial ecosystems: chemistry, dynamics, and impacts on microbial function, diversity and tolerance

Participants Background Objectives Publications Contacts

Polluted Environment Call 2001 INTAS Ref. No : INTAS - 01 - 2213

• Project Coordinator

  	Dr. Stephen Lofts
  	Chemistry Section, Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Lancaster Environment Centre, United Kingdom

Team Leaders:

Dr. Michiel Rutgers, Laboratory of Ecotoxicology, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), The Netherlands

Dr. Natalia Naumova, Institute of Soil Science and Agrochemistry (ISSA), Russian Academy of Sciences, Siberian Branch, Russia.

Dr. Tatiana Pampura, Institute of Physicochemical and Biological Problems in Soil Science (IPBPSS), Russian Academy of Sciences, Russia.

Dr. Galina Koptsik, Soil Science Faculty, Moscow State University, Russia.

Dr. Serguei Koptsik, Physics Faculty, Moscow State University, Russia.

Dr. Natalia Lukina, Institute of Industrial Ecological Problems of the North (INEP), Russian Academy of Sciences, Russia.

                               For addresses of contact persons see below

• Background:

  Toxic heavy metal pollutants can cause great harm to terrestrial ecosystems. Effective policy to manage and reduce potentially harmful levels of metals to such systems requires a thorough scientific knowledge of the impacts of such metals. The main study area will be the Kola Peninsula region, which is heavily impacted by aerial emissions from the nickel-processing industry, specifically the Pechenganikel and Severonikel smelters which are the largest point-source emitters of sulphur and heavy metals (particularly nickel and copper) in Northern Europe. Emissions over the last few decades have caused severe damage to the boreal forests of the area, which are among the northernmost coniferous forests of the world and hence may be especially sensitive to pollution impact. A study centred on Luvic Phaeozem soils of the Moscow region (Pushchino) will also be included in the project. The focus of this work will be to link short-term (months) and long-term (years) microbial community dynamics and pollutant tolerance with varying levels of metal (lead) contamination.

• Objectives:

1. To characterise metal levels and soil solution speciation, and community-level microbial indicators along two pollution transects in the northwestern Kola Peninsula.

   Concentrations of heavy metals (nickel and copper) will be studied in soil profiles along two transects surrounding nickel smelters in the Kola Peninsula. Total and available soil metal, soil solution metal, and soil solution free ion activity (for copper) will be determined, along with the major chemical constituents of the soil and soil solution. Chemical speciation modelling will be used to relate soil solids and solution chemistry, and transfer functions relating solid and solution metals will be determined. Community-level microbial indicators including biomass, metabolic quotient, structural and metabolic (functional) diversity, and pollution tolerance, will be measured in the soils. Relationships between the chemical and microbial properties of the soils will be established.

2. To study soil solution metal and community-level microbial indicators in contaminated soils of the Moscow region (Pushchino).

   Microbial biomass and metabolic quotient, and soil solution chemistry, in a suite of Pushchino soils artificially contaminated with lead, will be studied over a period of 2-3 years following contamination. Metabolic and functional diversity and pollution tolerance will be measured after a period of 2-3 years. Relationships between soil metal levels, soil solution chemistry and microbial properties will be established.

3. To characterise soil metal adsorption properties, and to develop and test a dynamic model of topsoil metal retention and release for the Kola Peninsula.

   Metal (Cu, Ni) adsorption properties of Kola soils will be studied in detail. The results will be used to derive empirical transfer functions for solid-solution metal partitioning, and to calibrate a chemical speciation model of the partitioning process. Soil column experiments will be carried out using soil profiles from two Kola sites. Columns will be irrigated with solutions mimicking contaminated and uncontaminated precipitation of the region. Field measurements of precipitation and soil water chemistry will be made over three summers. A dynamic model of topsoil chemistry will be developed, combining a solute transport code and both a chemical speciation model and empirical transfer functions for metal partitioning. The model will be parameterised with the results of the metal adsorption and column experiments, and tested against the measurements of soil water chemistry.

• Publications:

• Koptsik G.N., Nalbandyan K.F. 2002. Pollution of soils and plants by nickel and copper near the Pechenganikel smelter in the Kola Peninsula // Moscow University Soil Science Bulletin 57 (4).
• Koptsik, G.N., Koptsik, S.V., Livantsova, S.Yu., Nalbandyan, K.F., Fedorov, I.D., Chernyavskii, A.G. 2003. Spatial variability of podzol properties in forest ecosystems under air pollution impact. Moscow University Soil Science Bulletin 58 (2).
• Koptsik, S., Koptsik, G., and Eruslankina, L. Heavy metals in subarctic forest ecosystems: soil pollution and impacts on plant diversity. In: Second AMAP International Symposium on Environmental Pollution of the Arctic, Rovaniemi, Finland, 1 - 4 October, 2002. Proceeding of the Extended Abstracts.
• Koptsik, S., Koptsik, G., Livantsova, S., Fedorov, I., Eruslankina, L., Zhmelkova, T. Heavy metals in soils near the nickel smelter: chemistry, spatial variation, and impacts on plant diversity. Ecologic, Toxicologic and Human Health Issues Associated with the Mining, Refining and Production of Nickel and Companion Elements. Abstracts of the Sixth International Nickel Conference, September 1-6, 2002. Murmansk, 2002. P. 114.
• Koptsik G., Koptsik S., Livantsova S., Eruslankina L., Zhmelkova T. Effects of air pollution from nickel processing industry on boreal forest ecosystems. 7thICOBTE. Uppsala, June 2003 (accepted).
• Koptsik S., Koptsik G., Ermakov I. Spatial variation of heavy metals in contaminated soils near the Nickel Smelter. 7thICOBTE. Uppsala, June 2003 (accepted).

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• Addresses of contact persons:

  Dr. Stephen Lofts	Centre for Ecology and Hydrology The Ferry House, Ambleside Cumbria LA22 0LP, UK Tel: 44 (0) 15394 87702 Fax: 44 (0)15394 46914 E-mail: stlo@ceh.ac.uk
  Dr. Galina Koptsik	Soil Science Faculty, Moscow State University Moscow 119899, Russia Tel: +7 495 939 3573 Fax: +7 495 939 0989 E-mail: koptsikg@mail.ru
  Dr. Serguei Koptsik	Faculty of Physics, Moscow State University Moscow 119892, Russia Tel: +7 495 939 1145 Fax: +7 495 939 5907 E-mail: koptsik@phys.msu.ru

Address of this page: http://soil.msu.ru/projects/intas02/