Study finds differing tissue multi-element profiles among 26 wild plant taxa in eastern Türkiye

An observational field study summarized in the abstract measured nine elements in above-ground or leaf tissue from 123 composite samples representing 26 wild plant taxa in 14 botanical families in the Çapakçur microcatchment, eastern Türkiye. The investigated elements were cadmium, cobalt, chromium, copper, iron, manganese, nickel, lead and zinc. The researchers found statistically significant differences among both families and taxa for every investigated element, indicating that tissue multi-element concentration profiles varied across the plant groups sampled.

Permutation multivariate analysis of variance indicated significant differences in multi-element tissue concentration profiles among family and taxon groups. The abstract, however, cautions against a strong interpretation of these results because sampling was unbalanced, taxa were nested within families, and sampling locations may have differed in environmental exposure. Two complementary descriptive indices—the Metal Pollution Index and Species Metal Accumulation Score—summarized variation within the dataset. Globularia trichosantha had the highest Species Metal Accumulation Score, while Centaurea bingoelensis had the highest Metal Pollution Index. These rankings describe the sampled dataset and do not establish either taxon as a validated biomonitor.

Family Metal Enrichment Ratio analysis indicated element-specific enrichment tendencies within the study dataset, but the researchers said these patterns should not be treated as general family-level traits because some families were represented by only one taxon. Principal component analysis, heatmapping, clustering and Spearman correlation analyses further showed heterogeneous, largely element-specific tissue profiles. The analysis found limited evidence of strong co-association among elements apart from a positive relationship between nickel and copper. Together, the results support the conclusion that wild plant taxa in the microcatchment differ in their measured above-ground or leaf tissue multi-element concentrations, although the patterns cannot be attributed to intrinsic plant traits alone.

The study is limited by its observational design and by differences in tissue type, local exposure and microhabitat conditions across sampled plants. The composite sampling, uneven representation of taxa and families, and potential variation among locations constrain the conclusions that can be drawn from the family- and taxon-level comparisons. The researchers proposed that taxa with relatively high within-dataset scores could be prioritized for future biomonitoring validation, but they said such validation would require paired soil–plant sampling, standardized plant organs, analysis of bioavailable soil fractions, spatially co-located sampling and seasonal monitoring. Those proposed studies would be needed to confirm indicator value and clarify soil–plant transfer mechanisms; the reported findings do not demonstrate an established biomonitoring role or a causal process.

Subject of Research: Variation in tissue concentrations of nine elements among 26 wild plant taxa in eastern Türkiye

Article Title: Variation in above-ground tissue multi-element concentrations among wild plant taxa in the Çapakçur microcatchment, Eastern Türkiye

Article References: Demir, Y., Sinan, A., Doğan Demir, A., Meral, A., & Erdoğan, İ. Y. (2026). Variation in above-ground tissue multi-element concentrations among wild plant taxa in the Çapakçur microcatchment, Eastern Türkiye. BMC Plant Biology. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12870-026-10011-z

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1186/s12870-026-10011-z

Keywords: wild plant taxa, tissue concentrations, trace elements, heavy metals, biomonitoring, Çapakçur microcatchment, eastern Türkiye, plant ecology, Variation, above-ground, tissue, multi-element