title: Linking chemical elements in forest floor humus (Oh-horizon) in the Czech Republic to contamination sources.
abstract: While terrestrial moss and other plants are frequently used for environmental mapping and monitoring projects, data on the regional geochemistry of humus are scarce. Humus, however, has a much larger life span than any plant material. It can be seen as the "environmental memory" of an area for at least the last 60-100 years. Here concentrations of 39 elements determined by ICP-MS and ICP AES, pH and ash content are presented for 259 samples of forest floor humus collected at an average sample density of 1 site/300 km2 in the Czech Republic. The scale of anomalies linked to known contamination sources (e.g., lignite mining and burning, metallurgical industry, coal fired power plants, metal smelters) is documented and discussed versus natural processes influencing humus quality. Most maps indicate a local impact from individual contamination sources: often more detailed sampling than used here would be needed to differentiate between likely sources.
authors.affiliation: Silva Tarouca Research Institute for Landscape and Ornamental Gardening, Kvetnove namesti 391, 252 43 Pruhonice, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Julie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sucharova
authors.forename: Ivan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Suchara
authors.forename: Marie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hola
authors.forename: Clemens
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Reimann
authors.forename: Rognvald
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Boyd
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Filzmoser
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Englmaier
mesh_terms: D018153:Czech Republic; D004602:Elements; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D012987:Soil / Q000032:analysis*; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D014197:Trees
chemical_list: D004602:Elements; D012987:Soil; D012989:Soil Pollutants