Moss species-specific accumulation of atmospheric deposition?

Abstract

Background: This article presents statistical analyses of elements concentrations in mosses collected in two monitoring programmes: 1. The German moss monitoring as part of the European Moss Survey conducted in 1990, 1995, 2000, 2005 and 2015 at 592, 1026, 1028, 726 and 400 sites across Germany, respectively, and chemically analysed according to harmonised methods throughout Europe; and 2. The moss surveys additionally performed throughout Bavaria, federal state of Germany. The evaluations of the present study are intended to examine indications whether the element accumulations are specific to moss species and whether, therefore, conversion factors should be used. Such observations and recommendations have so far been limited to spatially confined areas and relatively few moss samples and were derived from different studies without a common methodology. Therefore, the objective of this investigation was to analyse large and long-term datasets from moss surveys for differences in element concentrations in different moss species. This analysis was based on data derived from several moss species collected across Germany and specimens of only one moss species collected in the monitoring programme performed by the environmental authority of Bavaria. So far, the presented investigation is the most comprehensive one in terms of running time, spatial density of the measurement network and method harmonisation. Results:The present study does neither verify nor falsify the hypothesis of moss species-specific element accumulations in mosses. This, like the other studies, is not possible because of its empirical design, since that would require strictly controlled laboratory experiments. However, this investigation yielded hints, that the differences in element accumulation in several moss species across German surveys between 1990 and 2015 are in the range of the intraand inter-specific variance reported. Conclusion:It is, therefore, advisable to continue dispensing with conversion factors so far. which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.

Moss and Polyaromatic Hydrocarbon in Malaysia: A Recent Ten-Year Evaluation

“…In 2005, a pilot study of nitrogen, persistent organic pollutants (POPs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) concentrations in mosses was carried out in selected countries using the pleurocarpous species since these species spread a thick cushion mats which has high surface-to-volume ratio that favour high accumulation of pollutants (Harmens et al, 2013). Schröder & Nickel, (2019) found that 74 % of the moss biomonitoring studies employes Pleurozium schreberi, Hypnum cupressiforme, Hylocomium splendens and Psedoscleropodium purum as biomonitors in Europe and North America. Pleurozium schreberi was able to accumulate PAHs and PCBs road traffic (Sucharová & Holá, 2014a) (Danielson et al, 2016).…”

“…Wu et al, 2014), garages (G. Vuković et al, 2013), airports (Turgut et al, 2019), petroleum refinery (Cortis et al, 2016) and bodies of water (Gecheva et al, 2020), moss bags method assists the monitoring of air around volcanoes (Calabrese et al, 2015) and in cold climate regions (Salo et al, 2016). Airborne pollutants accumulated in mosses through wet or dry deposition remain for at least 2 to 3 years and reflect the level of pollution (Fabure et al, 2010;Schröder & Nickel, 2019). Details on studies that used both types of monitoring are shown in Table 1 and Table 1.1.…”

Monitoring of Heavy Metals and Nitrogen Concentrations in Mosses in the Vicinity of an Integrated Iron and Steel Plant: Case Study in Czechia

“…Moreover, the predominant moss species within the Czech survey were Pleurozium schreberi and Scleropodium purum, while the Spanish and Turkish studies were based on the collection of Hypnum cupressiforme (Hedw.). Though it is supposed that elements concentrations in moss tissue are species-dependent [56,91,92], the information on the interspecies calibration for concerned moss species is still lacking; thus, it could not be performed. The comparison presented in Table 2 shows that levels of all elements recorded in Třinec were significantly higher in both June and October than in the Czech state-wide data, with the exception of Mn.…”

Comparison of Exposure Techniques and Vitality Assessment of Mosses in Active Biomonitoring for Their Suitability in Assessing Heavy Metal Pollution in Atmospheric Aerosol

“…It is used to distinguish and prioritize accumulation pathways of a given metal (Tan et al, 2000) and to determine the degree and type of contamination, mainly in industrial areas (De Agostini et al, 2020; Morales‐Casa et al, 2019). Nowadays, it is rarely applied, knowing that the pollutants accumulated by mosses are the sum of both dry and wet deposition (Schröder & Nickel, 2019; Xiao & Liu, 2011).…”