Bryophytes as a bioindicator for atmospheric deposition in different coastal habitats (a case study in the Russian sector of the Curonian Spit, South-Eastern Baltic)

ABSTRACT

The paper describes the characteristics of accumulation of trace elements (iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), nickel, zinc (Zn), strontium (Sr), rubidium (Rb), bromine (Br) and calcium (Ca)) in moss of the natural systems of the Curonian Spit. These coastal marine ecosystems are highly susceptible to transformation by both natural and anthropogenic factors affecting the element concentration in bryophytes. The method employed to determine elemental composition of moss is X-ray fluorescence spectrometry. To explain the variations in the experimental data, the primary results were processed using descriptive statistics, correlation analysis and principal component analysis. The contamination factor was calculated. The correlation and principal component analysis revealed three factors. This may be owing to the effects of wind transport, atmospheric deposition, marine aerosol and leaching from plant residues.

KEYWORDS:

• Mosses
• coast
• trace elements
• air biomonitoring

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.