A role forAmanita muscaria L. in the circulation of cadmium and vanadium in a non-polluted woodland.

The sporophore of the fungusAmanita muscaria L. contains greatiy elevated levels of cadmium (29.9 μg g(-1) dwt) and vanadium (344.9 μg g(-1) dwt) in comparison with the soil in a birch woodland (total (HNO3-extractabie Cd 0.4 μg g(-1) dwt, V 11.7 μg g(-1) dwt). The significance of this remarkable concentration of normally rare and dispersed elements in terms of their circulation in the woodland has been investigated. Both elements are released from sporophore tissue in a form which can be taken up by a test plant (lettuce), cultivated in the woodland soil amended with different quantities of sporophore tissue, Cadmium levels in all plant tissues were elevated in comparison to the non-amended controls; only root vanadium levels responded to the amendment of the soil. The results are discussed in terms of their significance for the natural cycling of both elements. It is calculated that an abundant population of sporophores could circulate 1.4% of the total cadmium and 0.65% of the total vanadium pool found in the litter layer and 0-5 cm soil horizon in the sampled woodland over a period of 14 days (mean life span of a sporophore).