ABSTRACT
Systems Research Group, University of Osnabrück, P.O. Box 4469, 4500 Osnabrück, Germany
Two thirds of naturally occurring chemical elements in ecosystems are not investigated since they are viewed as nonessential or nontoxic to biota. In view of the important role plants play in most ecosystems, their inorganic chemical characterization, according to modem instrumental multi-element techniques is of high interest. The establishment of “Reference plant”, comparable to the “Reference man” by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP), can be a useful tool for this type of chemical “fingerprinting”. In this paper, fingerprints of various plant species will be discussed and their compara bility demonstrated. In the future, more attention should be focused on establish ing baseline values for “normal” elemental concentrations in ecosystem compo nents, with special emphasis on those elements that are either uncommonly investigated or of undetectable concentrations. Lanthanides and platinum ele ments are among those for which baseline values in plants will be emphasized. Interelement relationships in plants are covered to provide a clearer understand ing of constant element proportions in biological systems.
