Concentrating metals by plants of the genus Salix and their importance for identification of Cd anomalies

The paper reports data on the specific accumulation of heavy metals by various species of willow (Salix caprea, S. fragili, and S. schwerinii) and other plants of the genus Salix within landscapes with ore anomalies and at background territories: in the area of the Ardon River in North Ossetia, Transbaikalia, and Kamchatka. All willow species can accumulate high concentrations of Cd and sometimes also Zn, and this can serve as a prospecting guide for base-metal and anthropogenic anomalies and be utilized when phytoremediation technologies are developed. The leaves of willow S. caprea that grows in areas contaminated with heavy metals are proved to actively synthesize certain sulfur-bearing phytochelatines.