Appetite of alien Impatiens spp. growing in the Baltic region

Abstract

Introduction. Due to climate shifts and intensification of internal and external transport since 1990's the spread of invasive alien species became a great concern in Baltic region. The elemental concentrations reflect many different aspects of the plants and their environment. Existing data on elemental concentrations of alien species is very limited in terms of elements analyzed and number of populations examined. Two Impatiens species, Small Balsam (Impatiens parviflora) and Himalayan Balsam (Impatiens glandulifera) are outspread invaders in many parts of Baltic region. In order to assess nutritional preferences of these species, estimation of their elemental composition has been done. Objectives. To evaluate nutritional state and accumulation of non-essential elements in the leaves of Small Balsam (I. parviflora) and Himalayan Balsam (I. glandulifera) from the Baltic region; inside each species to compare variability between populations. Methods. Each plant species was collected from 20 locations, also soil samples were taken. Dried and milled (Retsch MM 400, Germany), plant leaves were digested in the closed vessel microwave system (Ethos One, Milestone, Italy). The determinations of metals (Ca, Mg, K, Na, Al, Fe, Zn, Cu, Mn, Pb, Cd, Cr, Ni) were performed by flame or graphite furnace AAS (Shimadzu AA-6800). Nitrogen was analyzed by Kjeldahl method (Velp Scientifica, Italy). In total, over 1500 element analyses were done. Results and discussions. The highest soil acidity was defined for I. parviflora growing in the vicinity of the nitrogen fertilizer factory. Significant differences were observed according to all element concentrations in the leaves of Lithuania populations of I. glandulifera. The same trend was observed for I. parviflora populations. According to leaf nitrogen concentrations alien for Lithuania Impatiens species belong to the part of plants very well supplied with this element. [...]