Heavy metal, macro- and microelement content of grass species and dicotyledons

Data on the composition of fodder from pastures (grass, meadow-hay) can be frequently found in the literature, but data on the element contents of the grass or non-grass species composing natural grasslands are scarce. In order to analyse the element contents of plants, samples were collected over 3 years (1998-2000) from different types of natural grasslands. On non-fertilised grasslands, the dominant species was Festuca pseudovina. The dominant species on fertilised grasslands was Poa pratensis, with Bromus inermis or Elymus repens being dominant at some sites. The results showed that leguminous plants had the highest contents of four of the five macroelements, while the highest level of K was found in dicotyledonous plants. The Na and Ca contents of the plants were higher on non-fertilised grasslands, while the level of all the other macroelements was higher in plants from fertilised grasslands. Since the Se contents showed a high dispersion, only a trend was observed, indicating that the Se content of grass species is not significantly lower than that of other grassland plants. On non-fertilised grasslands, grass species contained the most Cr and Pb, while leguminous plants contained the most Cd. In fodder from fertilised grasslands, the highest quantity of Cd and Cr was found in grass species, and the most lead in non-leguminous dicotyledons.