Abstract

Green urban spaces and groves provide important entertainment and recreation opportunities for city residents. Many such places include historical structures, and so are also open to tourism activities. The present study determined the heavy metal contents in surface soils of some groves in Istanbul and investigated the interaction between some heavy metals (CU, Ni, Zn and Pb). In addition, the extent of the pollution was examined by calculating enrichment factors (EF) for these heavy metals. The maximum EF values for Cu and Pb were determined for soil samples from Gulhane Park (30.125 for Cu, 125.77 for Pb). The highest EF values for Zn and Ni were observed in soil samples from Fethipasha Grove (39.61 for Zn, 69.78 for Pb). In conclusion, different levels of heavy metal pollution were detected in the topsoils of the investigated groves.

Key words: Enrichment factor, grove, heavy metals, Istanbul, soil pollution.