Prof.  Irina  Shtangeeva
Institute of Earth Sciences, St. Petersburg State University,  Russia

Title: Main factors affecting variability of element concentrations in plants

Abstract:

Keywords: element fluctuations, soil factors, biological agents, sampling strategy

In plants, the concentrations of macro- and trace elements, as well as organic compounds, can vary significantly. The changes mainly result from natural causes. These changes depend on many factors, and it is often difficult to take into account all possible actions that can affect the elemental composition of plants. It is generally accepted that one of the main reasons for fluctuations of elements in plants is the level of concentrations of elements in the growth medium. The higher the concentration of a particular element in the rhizosphere soil, the higher the accumulation of the element in plants. However, even in this situation, there are various additional factors that can influence the uptake of the element: soil type, climatic conditions, etc. Among others, various biological agents such as plant species, biological clocks, distance between different plant species, cultivation on the site play an important role. Now many scientists recognize that each plant species has its own specific elemental composition, which often does not directly correlate with the concentrations of elements in the rhizosphere soil. For the most part, plant element concentrations reflect plant nutrient requirements rather than the amount of nutrients in the soil. Our goal was to evaluate and attempt to explain similarities and differences in the ability of different plant species growing under the same environmental conditions or under different scenarios to uptake essential nutrients, trace elements and organic compounds from the rhizosphere soil and transfer them from roots to upper parts of plants. Much attention will be paid to sampling strategy as this phase of the research is one of the most important in any experimental study.

Biography:

Affiliation and work address:
Institute of Earth Sciences, St. Petersburg State University, Universitetskaya nab., 7/9, St. Petersburg 199034 Russia, Tel: 007 812 687-61-22, E-mail: shtangeeva@gmail.com

Career/Employment:
2014 – senior researcher,InstituteofEarth Sciences,St. PetersburgUniversity
2006 – 2014 senior researcher, Chemical Department,St. PetersburgUniversity
1999 - 2006 - senior researcher,InterdisciplinaryCenter,St. PetersburgUniversity
1991 -1999 - senior researcher,InstituteofEarth Crust,St. PetersburgUniversity
1983 -1991 - researcher,InstituteofEarth Crust,St. PetersburgUniversity
1979 -1983 - junior research scientist,InstituteofEarth Crust,St. PetersburgUniversity
1978 -1979 - engineer,InstituteofEarth Crust,St. PetersburgUniversity

Main scientific interests:
Ecology, biogeochemistry, multivariate statistics and modelling, modern analytical techniques