HEAVY METALS CONTENT IN SOILS AND WOODY VEGETATION OF URBAN AREA

Creation of green areas of target composition is one of the ways of levelling the influence of hazardous environmental factors on the comfort of living in the city. The research purpose is content analysis of heavy metals in soils and woody plants at different distances from roads of the urban environment (Vologda). Breeds prevailing in the green areas of the studied settlement were selected for the analysis. Downy birch (Betula pubescens) and blue spruce (Picea pungens) are found in a majority of objects; Siberian pea shrub (Caragana arborescens) is the most popular shrub in hedges along the roads. The content of highly toxic pollutants (cadmium, lead, zinc, copper, nickel, chromium) has been found. The presence of active forms of heavy metals, the concentration of which would exceed the maximum allowable concentration, has not been recorded in the soils of Vologda. However, the content of zinc and cadmium near the roads is higher than the background value for the European part of Russia. The content of active forms of heavy metals in soils near the road and with distance from it reduces. The same trend was noted for the assimilation apparatus of the studies trees and shrubs. In leaves and needles of dendroflora, zinc accumulates the best of all, copper takes the second place, and lead takes the third place. It was determined that Siberian pea shrub and downy birch are able to accumulate heavy metals in leaves. It was found that the biological absorption factor is higher for elements such as copper, zinc, and lead.