Plant species from the vicinity of an abandoned As-Sb-Tl Allchar mine, Kožuf Mountains, with special reference to the bioavailability of endemic species – A review

Abstract

The Allchar mine, located in the southern part of North Macedonia, has a unique mineral composition. This locality is world-famous for its thallium minerals, but is also known for its large number of arsenic and antimony minerals. The rare plant species found at the Allchar locality, are of particular interest to scientists working on this topic worldwide. The following plant species described from the Allchar locality which are local endemics (stenoendemics) for this area, are of particular importance: Odontarrhena kavadarcensis (Syn. Alyssum kavadarcensis), Centaurea kavadarensis, Centaurea leucomalla, Galium kerneri, Knautia caroli-rechingeri, Onobrychis degenii, Thymus allchariensis, Viola alsharensis, Viola arsenica, and Viola × halacsyana. Rare Balkan endemic or relict species are also present in this locality, such as Alkanna noneiformis, Alkanna pulmonaria, Centaurea grbavacensis, Eryngium serbicum, Melampyrum heracleoticum, Ramonda nathaliae and other, while species from Allchar that are on the CORINE list of Macedonia are Viola arsenica and Ramonda nathaliae. Hyperaccumulator plants are able to tolerate extremely high concentrations of metals/metalloids in the soil in which they grow and accumulate high concentrations in the plant organs (roots, shoots and their leaves). Due to the specificity and enriched content of these potentially toxic elements in the soil, the above-mentioned local endemic plant species grow at the Allchar locality. The aim of this work is to give an overview of the results of the studies on these endemic plants and on the bioaccumulation ability of certain potentially toxic elements (mainly As, Sb and Tl) in relation to their mobility in the endemic plant species. The studies were initiated to determine the uptake and distribution of arsenic, antimony, thallium, and other potentially toxic elements in different plant parts (roots, stems, leaves, flowers, and seeds) of these endemic species.