Study of nitrogen pollution in Croatia by moss biomonitoring and Kjeldahl method

Abstract

During the summer and autumn of 2006 moss samples were collected from 98 sampling sites evenly distributed all over the territory of Croatia. Moss sampling was repeated in 2010 when additional sampling sites were added and a total of 121 samples were collected. Kjeldahl method was used to determine the nitrogen content in the samples. Descriptive statistics and distribution maps were prepared. Data obtained from these two surveys were compared, and additional comparison was done with data obtained from similar studies in neighbouring countries and Finland as a clean area. The median value of N content in the samples collected in 2006 is 1.60% and varies from 0.79% to 3.16%. The content of N in samples collected in 2010 ranges between 0.71% and 2.93% with the median value of 1.49%. High contents of N (2.32% − 3.17%) were found in the regions of Slavonia, Podravina, Posavina and cities Zagreb and Sisak as a result of agricultural activities, industry and traffic.

Keywords:

• Croatia
• Kjeldahl method
• moss biomonitoring
• nitrogen
• pollution

Acknowledgments

We sincerely thank Vladimir Kušan, who prepared all images in this paper.