Bryophyte communities’ responses to environmental factors in highly seasonal rivers

Gecheva, Gana; Pall, Karin; Hristeva, Yordanka G.

doi:10.1080/23818107.2016.1263238

Cited by 10 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…This supports the common emphasis on macrophyte species composition rather than on species richness to assess ecosystem quality. In addition, undisturbed communities were dominated by stiff rheophilous aquatic mosses forming large carpets (as was previously reported for other river types [17]).…”

Section: Aquatic Macrophyte Response To Multiple Stressors In Bulgari...supporting

confidence: 79%

Anthropogenic Stressors in Upland Rivers: Aquatic Macrophyte Responses. A Case Study from Bulgaria

Gecheva

Pall²,

Todorov

et al. 2021

Plants

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Upland rivers across Europe still exhibit undisturbed conditions and represent a treasure that we cannot afford to lose. We hypothesize that the combination of pristine and modified conditions could demonstrate biological responses along the stressor gradients. Thus, the response of aquatic macrophyte communities to anthropogenic stressors along upland rivers in Bulgaria was studied. Six stressors were selected out of 36 parameters grouped into hydromorphological, chemical variables and combined drivers (catchment land use). The stressors strongly affected species richness on the basis of biological type (bryophytes vs. vascular plants) and ecomorphological type (hydrophytes vs. helophytes). Hydrological alteration expressed by the change of the river’s base flow and altered riparian habitats has led to a suppression of bryophytes and a dominance of riverbank plant communities. Seventy-five percent of mountain sites were lacking bryophytes, and the vegetation at semi-mountainous sites was dominated by vascular plants. It can be concluded that hydropeaking, organic and inorganic pollution, and discontinuous urban structures caused important modifications in the aquatic macrophyte assemblages. Macrophyte abundance and the biological and ecomorphological type of aquatic macrophytes reflect multi-stressor effects in upland rivers.

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Section: Aquatic Macrophyte Response To Multiple Stressors In Bulgari...supporting

confidence: 79%

Anthropogenic Stressors in Upland Rivers: Aquatic Macrophyte Responses. A Case Study from Bulgaria

Gecheva

Pall²,

Todorov

et al. 2021

Plants

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“…Conversely, Fissidens elegans, Riccia crassifrons, and Marchantia polymorpha were the best indicators of more urbanized zones such as in southern, central, and northern areas with greater impact of anthropogenic disturbances. Some authors point out that these species are considered tolerant to pollution, and therefore can be indicative of intense urban activity related with wastewater [19].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For instance, it has been shown that bryophyte communities change with turbidity, water temperature, and pH in the Italian Alps and Apennines [15,16]. Water pollution [10] and level of urbanization [15,[17][18][19][20] also have an impact in other European bryophyte community structures.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bryophyte Communities along a Tropical Urban River Respond to Heavy Metal and Arsenic Pollution

Vásquez

Calva

Morocho

et al. 2019

Water

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Aquatic and rheophilous bryophytes can indicate water pollution as they bioaccumulate toxic water elements. We evaluated (1) bioaccumulation of eight heavy metals and arsenic by Marchantia polymorpha L., and (2) changes in bryophyte community structure, as responses to urban pollution in southern Ecuador. To this end, we registered presence/absence and coverage of submerged bryophytes in 120 quadrats across three zones of the Zamora river inside Loja city, and a control zone in a nearby forest. We found that the concentrations of five (Al, Cd, Cu, Fe, and Zn) of the eight chemical elements and arsenic were highest in urban M. polymorpha. Moreover, bryophyte species richness decreased in urban zones. Bryophyte community structure also differed between control and city zones, but no differences were found among city zones. The control zone was composed by a more distinct set of bryophyte species, e.g., an indicator species analysis showed that 16 species had high and significant indicator values for control zone, but only 11 species were indicators of at least one of the three urban zones. We concluded that bryophytes, in general, and M. polymorpha, in particular, can be suitable biomonitors of water quality in tropical urban rivers.

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“…Bryophytes promote soil formation by accumulation organic carbon, organic acids and organogenic elements (Karpinets et al, 2014;Kyyak & Baik, 2016). They maintain balance of the subsoil alkalinity and acidity and improve its physical and chemical properties, create conditions for settlement of other plant species and promote the development of microbial communities (Li et al, 2007;Xiao et al, 2014;Jackson, 2015;Zhang et al, 2016;Bueno de Mesquita et al, 2017;Gecheva et al, 2017;Cao et al, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Role of the bryophytes in substrate revitalization on a post-technogenic salinized territory

et al. 2020

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This work aims to investigate the role of the bryophyte cover in substrate revitalization on a post-technogenic salinized territory. The influence of the moss cover on the organic carbon content, actual acidity, redox potential, and the content of the main ecological and trophic groups of microorganisms in the substrate of the tailings storage of the Stebnyk Mining and Chemical Enterprise "Polymineral" was investigated. Bryophytes significantly affect the tailings storage saline substrates. They colonize areas with a very strong and strong degree of salinity, which are unsuitable for other plants. It was indicated that pioneer moss species promote the accumulation of organic matter in saline substrates of the tailings storage. Under moss turfs, the amount of organic carbon increased 2.2–5.0 times, compared with its content in the uncovered substrate. The high variability of the organic matter content is determined by the species characteristics of mosses, primarily their life form. The dense-turf species Didymodon rigidulus and Pthychostomum pseudotriquetrum var. bimum accumulated the most organic matter. The thickness of the litter under the moss turf of these species was much greater than in Barbula unguiculata and Funaria hygrometrica, which form loose turf. We assessed the specificity of the accumulation of organic carbon in the turfs of the studied mosses. It founded that most organic matter accumulated in the dead parts of the moss turf. In the green parts of the shoots of these moss species the amount of organic carbon was 3–4 times less, which indicates a relationship between litter capacity and content of carbon in the substrate under moss turfs. We investigated the influence of mosses on the actual acidity of the tailings storage substrate. Moss turfs promote the increase of acidity of the aqueous solution of the tailings substrate by 0.2–0.5 units. The tailings storage substrates are characterized by a reduction regime. The redox potential of the substrate under moss cover significantly depended on the species characteristics of mosses. Under the moss cover, the redox potential increased by 1.2–1.4 times, compared with the index for the substrate without moss cover. We studied the influence of moss cover on microbial biomass and the quantity of some ecological-trophic groups of microorganisms in the substrates of the tailings storage. The amount of microbial biomass under moss turfs increased depending on the degree of the substrate salinization and the species characteristics of the mosses. In areas with a very high degree of salinization under the moss turfs of Didymodon rigidulus and Funaria hygrometrica, the microbial biomass index increased almost two times, compared with the uncovered substrate. We found a significant increase in the quantity of the main ecological and trophic groups of microorganisms (saprophytes, cellulose-destroying bacteria, oligonitrophils and nitrogen fixers) in the substrate under the moss cover. Thus, pioneer moss species have a complex effect on the saline substrate of tailings storage. They accumulate organic matter, increase the acidity of the upper layer, improve the redox regime of the substrate and promote the development of soil microbiota.

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Bryophyte communities’ responses to environmental factors in highly seasonal rivers

Cited by 10 publications

References 31 publications

Anthropogenic Stressors in Upland Rivers: Aquatic Macrophyte Responses. A Case Study from Bulgaria

Anthropogenic Stressors in Upland Rivers: Aquatic Macrophyte Responses. A Case Study from Bulgaria

Bryophyte Communities along a Tropical Urban River Respond to Heavy Metal and Arsenic Pollution

Role of the bryophytes in substrate revitalization on a post-technogenic salinized territory

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