The Natural Abundance of Heavy Nitrogen Isotope (15N) in Plants Increases near a Large Copper Smelter.

The ratio of stable isotopes of nitrogen (N and N) has been assessed in leaves of the forest plants from different functional groups (with ectomycorrhiza, ericoid, and arbuscular mycorrhiza; in a nitrogen-fixing symbiosis) under the conditions of strong transformation of ecosystems by the Karabashsky Copper-Smelting Plant effluents in the Southern Urals. The abundance of N in the plants generally increases in polluted habitats. The abundance of the heavy isotope N increases significantly with pollution in ericaceous dwarf shrubs (by 3.