Red deer Cervus elaphus L., 1758 (Mammalia: Cervidae) as a Biomonitor for Contemporary Heavy Metal Pollution of the Environment in Forest Mountain Regions in Bulgaria

摘要

The aim of the study was to check the current levels of toxic (Pb and Cd) and essential with a concentration-dependent toxic effect (Cu and Zn) heavy metals in the liver of the European red deer Cervus elaphus inhabiting typical forest mountain regions in Bulgaria, Rhodope Mountains and in Central Stara Planina Mountains. For determination of analytic concentrations of the studied heavy metals, an inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) was used. The average values of metal concentration (mg/kg dry weight) in the liver of the red deer from Rhodope Mountains were as follow: Cu - 176.7, Zn - 599.3, Pb - 2.2 and Cd - 0.9; in Central Stara Planina Mountain, they were: Cu - 115.6; Zn - 224.7; Pb - 5.0 and Cd - 0.9. The obtained results can be used to create a baseline for estimation of the current heavy metal accumulation in red deer in the feeding area of the big game animals in the forest mountain regions of Bulgaria. They also offer an opportunity that red deer be used as a biomonitor of future potential anthropogenic negative impact on the environment in forest regions of the country under the conditions of modern anthropogenic activities therein.