Capsella bursa-pastoris (L.) Medic. as a biomonitor of heavy metals

Cytological studies of Brassicaceae Burn. (Cruciferae Juss.) from Western Himalayas

“…In case of Cardamine loxostiemonoides present diploid report (n = 8) against tetraploid cytotype 2n = 32 [11] and for Nasturtium officinale also present diploid report (n = 8) against another diploid cytotype with 2n = 14 [12], tetraploid (2n = 32) and octaploid (2n = 64) cytotypes [5] are recorded on world-wide basis. The diploid cytotype (n = 8) in Capsella bursapastoris is reported for the first time from India and confirms the previous reports of 2n = 32 [13][14][15] from outside India. Sisymbrium irio is another species with presently worked out diploid and tetraploid cytotypes like those of Barbaraea intermedia and Capsella bursapastoris.…”

Heavy Metal Contamination of Roadside Soils of Northern England

“…KABATA-PENDIAS and PENDIAS (1984) reported that the background concentrations of cadmium in the surface soils in Britain are 1.05 µg/g. AKSOY (1996) found mean cadmium concentrations for urban roadside soils and rural roadside soils near Bradford as 2.44 µg/g and 1.04 µg/g, respectively.…”

“…Studies have shown that such pollutants can be harmful to the roadside vegetation, wildlife, and the neighbouring human settlements (MUSKETT & JONES 1980;KHAN & FRANKLAND 1983;NDIOKWERE 1984;IQBAL et al 1994;FERRETTI et al 1995;CASELLES 1998;TURER & MAYNARD 2003). The distribution of these metals in the roadside soils is strongly but inversely correlated with the increase in the distance from road (WARREN & BIRCH 1987;BHA-TIA & ChOUDHRI 1991;AKSOY 1996). This study constitutes a part of a broader research project on the ecology and conservation of the roadside…”

Multi-year Assessment of Airborne Metals in Fallon, Nevada, Using Leaf-surface Chemistry

“…Leaf-surface chemistry indicates atmospheric chemistry (Wittig, 1993), including airborne metals (Rautio et al, 1998). Leaves are easy to collect (Aksoy et al, 1999), so spatial and temporal arrays of samples can be obtained quickly (Loppi et al, 1997). Leaf-surface particulates reflect the chemical composition of recent accumulations, on the order of weeks to months or perhaps an entire growing season depending on the occurrence of precipitation (Alfani et al, 1996b).…”

“…Paired studies of leaf-surface accumulations with ground-surface dust and/or airborne particulates can be particularly fruitful for confirming airborne chemistry and identifying spatial patterns of metals (Bargagli 1993;Čeburnis and Steinnes 2000). Because of these advantages, many case studies exist worldwide using leaf-surface chemistry to quantify atmospheric loading of heavy metals and/or identify their spatial patterns (e.g., Aksoy and Öztürk, 1997;Aksoy et al, 1999;Alfani et al, 1996a;Dasch, 1987;Gupta et al, 2004;Rossini Oliva and Mingorance, 2006;Salve et al, 2006;Ward, 1977;). More specifically, leaf-surface chemistry was done in Fallon in 2007, and it showed elevated peaks of airborne tungsten and cobalt just northwest of the center of town (Sheppard et al, 2009a (Sheppard et al, 2009b), we have chosen leaf surface chemistry as the technique with which to continue monitoring Fallon air quality.…”