Abstract Chlorine (Cl) and bromine (Br) are important but understudied elements in terrestrial ecosystems, and their accumulation in mushrooms remains poorly characterized. We determined Cl and Br content in 126 mushroom samples collected from a temperate coniferous forest plantation with uniform environmental characteristics. The concentrations of both elements were also determined in a representative soil profile and organic topsoil layers across the studied site. The halogen concentrations in mushrooms ranged from 30 to 35,900 mg Cl kg⁻ 1 and 0.18 to 45.9 mg Br kg⁻ 1 (dry mass). The accumulation of Cl showed species- and genus-specific patterns, and the Cl concentrations were up to a hundred times higher than those in the topsoil. The concentrations of Br in mushrooms were several orders of magnitude lower than the concentrations of Cl and generally lower than those in the soil layers. Considerable accumulation of both elements was noted in ectomycorrhizal species of the genus Amanita . Multivariate analysis revealed no significant relationship between total Cl and other macroelements except for a weak relationship with potassium. The results provide new insights into halogen accumulation in fungi and indicate a potential role of mushrooms in the biogeochemical cycling of Cl and Br in temperate forest ecosystems. Graphical Abstract
Synková et al. (Wed,) studied this question.