Líffræðifélag Íslands - biologia.is
Líffræðiráðstefnan 2019

Erindi/veggspjald / Talk/poster V63

Mosses as bioindicators of trace elements in Iceland

Höfundar / Authors: Maria Kolon (1), Marcin Kopeć (1), Bronisław Wojtuń (1), Aleksandra Samecka-Cymerman (1), Lucyna Mróz (1), Pawel Wasowicz (2), Adam Rajsz (1)

Starfsvettvangur / Affiliations: 1. Department of Ecology, Biogeochemistry and Environmental Protection, Wroclaw University, Poland, 2. Icelandic Institute of Natural History, Akureyri, Iceland

Kynnir / Presenter: Pawel Wasowicz

The poster summarizes the investigation of the level of metals in two moss species: Sanionia uncinata, Racomitrium lanuginosum. We tested the following hypotheses: 1) S. uncinata and R. lanuginosum may be used as bioindicators of contaminating metals in Iceland, 2) S. uncinata is a better phytoaccumulator of these metals than R. lanuginosum because of pleated leaves, which increases their surface. S. uncinata was a better accumulator of Cd, Co and Ni than R. lanuginosum, while R. lanuginosum was a better accumulator of Pb than the other moss growing together in the same sites. Both species accumulated Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn and Zn in a similar way. PCCA analysis points that R. lanuginosum and S. uncinata collected in the vicinity of various local industries were correlated with the highest levels of all established concentrations of Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn. Both species from sites influenced by sea spray were correlated with the highest concentration of Hg. No concentration of trace elements in the examined mosses exceeded the toxicity thresholds for plants and thus it may be concluded that Iceland is not impacted by heavy pollution from anthropogenic sources