ECOLOGICAL AND PEDOLOGICAL RESEARCH OF CONTAMINATED SOILS IN METALLIC BURDENED REGION OF NORTH-EASTERN SLOVAKIA

The risk of soil degradation, consequences and links between anthropic pollution and soil stability are currently not sufficiently researched. The minimization of soil degradation should be the basis of ecological strategies of land use. The work focuses on the analysis of scientific knowledge about the risks of soil degradation in immission field of iron ore mines, to assess the bioindication properties of vegetation and soil conditions, with emphasis on the heavy metals content in soils. The research was performed on permanent grassland (PG) of mining waste within Rudnany-Gelnica burdened area. Botanical composition of the studied sites has been identified on the basis of phytosociological records. The coverage was determined by seven-scale Braun-Blaunqueta (1964) and taxonomic names are listed according to Marhold and Hindak [1]. Bioindication characteristics of vegetation were evaluated according to Jurko [2] and Ellenberg [3]. From the physical properties were determined bulk density and porosity, from the chemical properties soil reaction, Cox, P, K, Mg and the total heavy metal content. The results were evaluated in the program Statistica. On the studied localities were highly exceeded contents of copper and mercury, soil reaction ranged in categories acidic or extremely acidic for most area. Based on the analysis of ecological communities are found dominance hemicryptophytes at mesophilic localities and dominance of plant species indifferent to soil reaction. The above scientific findings serve as a starting point for the analysis of direction for further research in the field of bioremediation.