Culturing the Bryohphyte Hygrohypnum ochraceum for Use as an Instream Monitor of Metals

ABSTRACT

We report successful laboratory culturing of the bryophyte, Hygrohypnum ochraceum and document the growth of the plant under a specific set of conditions. Recent publications showed that bryophytes are excellent collectors of heavy metal contaminants from the environment. Data from historical literature also shows that tissue from indigenous species reflects the degree of environmental contamination by metals. The reason for this study was to determine if an uninterrupted supply of bryophyte plants could be produced for field experiments by propagation in the laboratory. We believe benefits for culturing bryophytes include 1) a reliable and continuous supply of plants for biological tests regardless of the time of year, 2) no travel time to obtain the plants from the natural sources, 3) reduced preparation time, 4) minimal damage to the plant due to handling before testing, 5) a knowledge of the plant growth-history, and 6) known baseline contaminant levels in the plant tissues.