Andreea-Rebeka Zsigmond

• PhD
• Professor (Assistant) at Sapientia Hungarian University of Transylvania

The Agaricus campestris mushroom widespread in the metropolitan areas could be an alternative food source to the cultivated and widely commercialized Agaricus bisporus. Our aim was to elaborate the elemental profile of the A. campestris in the urban and peri-urban environment, and to determine the levels of some highly toxic elements. The A. campes...

The Eastern Carpathians, along the Neogene to Quaternary volcanic chain, host important natural resources of mineral waters. Most of these are in the form of CO2-rich natural springs of different types, associated with CO2 gas emissions. In order to understand the origin of these waters, the natural processes responsible for the observed physical-c...

Urban activities intensify air pollution by increasing the amount of particulate matter (PM). The trees collect PM by adsorption on the leaf surface and simultaneously absorb inorganic components. In this research, we investigated the potential of the black pine as bioindicator of road traffic emissions in Cluj-Napoca (Romania). We defined three si...

The mushrooms are living organisms with excellent capability to adapt to the multiple challenges of their environment. Several species are well represented in urban green areas (parks, green spots, and recreation grounds). We investigated the influence of the urban environment over two saprotrophic (Bovista plumbea, Lycoperdon perlatum) and two myc...

Remote mountain lakes experience accelerating ecological change worldwide due to the ongoing warming. In this study, we analyze two alpine lakes, Lake Ana (1940 m) and Lake Peleaga (2122 m), from the Retezat National Park in Romania. The sediment cores cover ~ 400 years, and our aim is to reconstruct critical transitions, the rate of ecosystem chan...

We present chironomid-based reconstructions of mean July air temperature changes over the last 2000 years from Lake Latoriței (1530 m a.s.l.) in the Southern Carpathians. A multi-proxy analysis was performed along a 58 cm long sediment core and two training sets were used for quantitative July air temperature reconstructions: the Eastern-European (...

A 2-year field experiment was performed to test lithium chloride, LiCl, application in a normal beekeeping management system. The effect of LiCl on bee larval mortality, beehive weight (honey production) and Varroa mite mortality were tested. Spectrometric quantification of Li on honey and the larval body were made to test the effectiveness of the...

Peat bogs are among the most threatened habitats in Central Europe. They are characterized by stagnant water with low pH and lower nutrient content compared to the surrounding habitats. The flora and fauna of peat bogs comprised of many habitat specialist and rare species. We explored the differences in spider fauna of European spruce and Scots pin...

A multiproxy approach including chironomid, diatom, pollen and geochemical analyses was applied on short gravitational cores retrieved from an alpine lake (Lacul Bâlea) in the Southern Carpathians (Romania) to unveil how this lake responded to natural and anthropogenic forcing over the past 500 years. On the basis of chironomid and diatom assemblag...

How far-reaching is the influence of the urban area over the mineral composition of the Russula cyanoxantha mushroom? To answer this question, we monitored the metal uptake behavior of this fungus relying on the soil properties. We sampled mushroom and soil from six forests according to an urbanization gradient, and two city parks in Cluj-Napoca (R...

Peat bogs are highly endangered and very sensitive habitats in Central Europe. Their high water table, acidity and characteristic climate determine their specialized flora and fauna with numerous rare species. Peat bogs are threatened by soil erosion and nutrient infiltration due to forestry management or grazing. Several small, natural peat bogs e...

Lentic (pools) and lotic habitats (streams) of Sphagnum bogs were studied, with the focus on the differences amongst the diatom assemblages. Regardless of the geographical location, the significant differences between the peat-bog pools and streams on the level of the measured abiotic variables (especially pH and concentrations of certain chemical...

There are many settlements in our country where the well-water is partially or the only potable water supply. The main factors which contribute to the pollution of groundwater are the agricultural activities, raising livestock and refuse disposal. The studied communal area consists of three villages: Sâncraiu, Ilieni and Dobolii de Jos. The well-wa...

We determined the elemental profile of 16 edible mushroom species from the Făget Forest, near Cluj-Napoca, and of 12 species from the Apuseni Mountains. Oneway ANOVA showed no difference in the elemental content of mushrooms when the two regions were compared. Some species accumulated high amounts of trace elements, i.e. Boletus edulis (Ag, S, Zn),...

The survey of the lithium content of several spring and bottled mineral waters originating from Transylvania (Romania) has been carried out by atomization of 3 µL sample from a Pt-wire loop in the methane-air (M-A) flame. The quantification conditions were optimized, they are: atomic emission at λ = 670.8 nm, the height of 5 mm over the burner head...

A rapid and simple FAES technique for the quantification of traces of cesium in natural samples is described. A volume of 3 μL of liquid sample was placed on a Pt-wire, dried, and atomized in the methane-air flame. The flame atomization conditions of cesium were optimized, which are as follows: λ = 852.19 nm, the height of 2 mm over the burner head...

The rubidium content in 3 µL of some beverage products (beer, wine, vegetable and fruit juices) atomized from a Ptwire in the methaneair flame has been determined by atomic emission spectrometry. The flame atomization conditions of rubidium were optimized, they are: λ = 780.0 nm, the height of 8 mm over the burner head, gas flow rates of 300 L h-1...