US EPA

4842966 

Journal Article 

Annual growth of four pleurocarpous moss species and their applicability for biomonitoring heavy metals 

Zechmeister, HG 

1998 

Yes 

Environmental Monitoring and Assessment
ISSN: 0167-6369
EISSN: 1573-2959 

52 

3 

441-451 

English 

BIOSIS COPYRIGHT: BIOL ABS. Data on the annual production per area of mosses used as biomonitors is of major importance in the calculation of heavy metal deposition rates derived from concentration values. Therefore, annual biomass production per area was determined for Hylocomium splendens (127 | 61 gm-2 yr-1), Pleurozium schreberi (161 + 56 gm-2 yr-1), Hylocomium splendens (188 | 62 gm-2 yr-1) and Abientinella abietina (144 | 45 gm-2 yr-1) at 54 sites in Austria. Annual increments were detected by morphological criteria. Central European populations of mosses produce on average 10% (H. splendens) and 39% (P. schreberi) more biomass per area than populations from Northern Europe or Canada. Due to great differences in biomass production at various sites it is suggested calculating heavy metal deposition rates by using mean values only for larger areas and to take only data from accurate measurements of annual growth rates for the calculations of the depositions at single sites. A comparison betwe