Future environmental challenges of the urban protected area Great War Island (Belgrade, Serbia) based on valuation of the pollution status and ecosystem services

Milica Kašanin-Grubin; Snežana Štrbac; Snežana Antonijević; Svetlana Djogo Mračević; Dragana Randjelović; Jovana Orlić; Aleksandra Šajnović

doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2019.109574

Future environmental challenges of the urban protected area Great War Island (Belgrade, Serbia) based on valuation of the pollution status and ecosystem services

J Environ Manage. 2019 Dec 1:251:109574. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2019.109574. Epub 2019 Sep 28.

Authors

Milica Kašanin-Grubin¹, Snežana Štrbac², Snežana Antonijević³, Svetlana Djogo Mračević⁴, Dragana Randjelović⁵, Jovana Orlić⁶, Aleksandra Šajnović⁷

Affiliations

¹ University of Belgrade, Institute of Chemistry, Technology and Metallurgy, Centre of Chemistry, Studentski Trg 12-16, 11000, Belgrade, Serbia. Electronic address: mkasaningrubin@chem.bg.ac.rs.
² University of Belgrade, Institute of Chemistry, Technology and Metallurgy, Centre of Chemistry, Studentski Trg 12-16, 11000, Belgrade, Serbia. Electronic address: snezana@chem.bg.ac.rs.
³ Public Utility Company "Zelenilo Beograd", Surčinski put 2, 11070, New Belgrade, Serbia. Electronic address: snezana.antonijevic@zelenilo.rs.
⁴ University of Belgrade, Faculty of Pharmacy, Vojvode Stepe 450, 11221, Belgrade, Serbia. Electronic address: svetlana.djogo@pharmacy.bg.ac.rs.
⁵ University of Belgrade, Faculty of Mining and Geology, Đusina 7, 11000, Belgrade, Serbia. Electronic address: dragana.randjelovic@rgf.bg.ac.rs.
⁶ Innovation Center of the Faculty of Chemistry, Studentski Trg 12-16, 11000, Belgrade, Serbia. Electronic address: jovanaorlic@chem.bg.ac.rs.
⁷ University of Belgrade, Institute of Chemistry, Technology and Metallurgy, Centre of Chemistry, Studentski Trg 12-16, 11000, Belgrade, Serbia. Electronic address: sajnovica@chem.bg.ac.rs.

PMID: 31574373
DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2019.109574

Abstract

The Great War Island (GWI) is an area of importance for the protection of the environment, cultural and historical heritage of Belgrade, Serbia. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) this area belongs to the IV category - Habitats and Other Regulated Areas. The main objectives of this paper are to evaluate the potential impacts of pollution on ecosystem services of the Great War Island and to explore different scenarios for future urban development of the Great War Island that will have implication for human well-being. The aims of this paper are set up based on the evaluation of ecosystem services of the Great War Island and assessment of the pollution status of the Great War Island. In order to evaluate pollution status of the GWI inorganic and organic composition of sediments were examined. Additionally, the content of microelements was determined in the leaves of the Salix alba L. Pollution indices indicate that all investigated sampling sites are polluted and correspond to high and very high degree of contamination. Cd and Cu show high to extremely high degree of contamination while Sb has extremely high degree of contamination. Content of As, Co, Cu, Ni and Zn in leaves of Salix alba L. is in sufficient to normal range, while content of Cd is between the sufficient and excessive values generalized for various species. Typical oil distributions of terpanes and steranes and values of the corresponding maturity parameters clearly indicated that the sediments of the GWI, in addition to native organic matter, contained oil pollutants of anthropogenic origin. GWI provides provisioning, regulating, supporting and cultural ecosystem services. In relation to ecosystem services two possible scenarios can be predicted: first - losing the status of a protected area due to urbanization; and the second - increasing the degree of protection by admission into international protection lists.

Keywords: Ecosystem services; Geochemistry; Pollution indices; Urban area; Wetlands.

MeSH terms

Ecosystem
Environmental Monitoring
Islands
Metals, Heavy*
Serbia
Water Pollutants, Chemical*
World War I

Substances

Metals, Heavy
Water Pollutants, Chemical