Heavy metal and nitrogen concentrations in mosses are declining across Europe whilst some "hotspots" remain in 2010

  1. Harmens, H. 2
  2. Norris, D.A. 2
  3. Sharps, K. 2
  4. Mills, G. 2
  5. Alber, R. 5
  6. Aleksiayenak, Y. 11
  7. Blum, O. 16
  8. Cucu-Man, S.-M. 1
  9. Dam, M. 4
  10. De Temmerman, L. 30
  11. Ene, A. 3
  12. Fernández, J.A. 26
  13. Martinez-Abaigar, J. 24
  14. Frontasyeva, M. 13
  15. Godzik, B. 31
  16. Jeran, Z. 14
  17. Lazo, P. 27
  18. Leblond, S. 15
  19. Liiv, S. 22
  20. Magnússon, S.H. 8
  21. Maňkovská, B. 10
  22. Karlsson, G.P. 12
  23. Piispanen, J. 6
  24. Poikolainen, J. 6
  25. Santamaria, J.M. 25
  26. Skudnik, M. 20
  27. Spiric, Z. 18
  28. Stafilov, T. 21
  29. Steinnes, E. 17
  30. Stihi, C. 29
  31. Suchara, I. 19
  32. Thöni, Lotti. 7
  33. Todoran, R. 23
  34. Yurukova, L. 9
  35. Zechmeister, H.G. 28
  36. Show all authors +
  1. 1 Alexandru Ioan Cuza University
    info

    Alexandru Ioan Cuza University

    Iași, Rumanía

    ROR https://ror.org/022kvet57

  2. 2 Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Environment Centre Wales, Deiniol Road, Bangor, Gwynedd, United Kingdom
  3. 3 University of Galaţi
    info

    University of Galaţi

    Galați, Rumanía

    ROR https://ror.org/052sta926

  4. 4 Environment Agency, Argir, Faroe Islands
  5. 5 Environmental Agency of Bolzano, Laives, Italy
  6. 6 Finnish Forest Research Institute, Oulu Research Unit, Oulu, Finland
  7. 7 FUB-Research Group for Environmental Monitoring, Rapperswil, Switzerland
  8. 8 Icelandic Institute of Natural History, Iceland
  9. 9 Institute of Botany, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria
  10. 10 Institute of Landscape Ecology, Slovak Academy of Science, Bratislava, Slovakia
  11. 11 International Sakharov Environmental University
    info

    International Sakharov Environmental University

    Minsk, Bielorrusia

    ROR https://ror.org/05198a862

  12. 12 IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute, Gothenburg, Sweden
  13. 13 Joint Institute for Nuclear Research
    info

    Joint Institute for Nuclear Research

    Dubná, Rusia

    ROR https://ror.org/044yd9t77

  14. 14 Jožef Stefan Institute
    info

    Jožef Stefan Institute

    Liubliana, Eslovenia

    ROR https://ror.org/05060sz93

  15. 15 Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France
  16. 16 National Botanical Garden, Academy of Science of Ukraine, Kiev, Ukraine
  17. 17 Norwegian University of Science and Technology
    info

    Norwegian University of Science and Technology

    Trondheim, Noruega

    ROR https://ror.org/05xg72x27

  18. 18 Oikon Ltd., Institute for Applied Ecology, Zagreb, Croatia
  19. 19 Silva Tarouca Research Institute for Landscape and Ornamental Gardening
    info

    Silva Tarouca Research Institute for Landscape and Ornamental Gardening

    Průhonice, República Checa

    ROR https://ror.org/04gf11d56

  20. 20 Slovenian Forestry Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia
  21. 21 Saints Cyril and Methodius University of Skopje
    info

    Saints Cyril and Methodius University of Skopje

    Skopje, Macedonia

    ROR https://ror.org/02wk2vx54

  22. 22 Tallinn Botanic Garden, Tallinn, Estonia
  23. 23 Technical University of Cluj-Napoca
    info

    Technical University of Cluj-Napoca

    Cluj, Rumanía

    ROR https://ror.org/03r8nwp71

  24. 24 Universidad de La Rioja
    info

    Universidad de La Rioja

    Logroño, España

    ROR https://ror.org/0553yr311

  25. 25 Universidad de Navarra
    info

    Universidad de Navarra

    Pamplona, España

    ROR https://ror.org/02rxc7m23

  26. 26 Universidade de Santiago de Compostela
    info

    Universidade de Santiago de Compostela

    Santiago de Compostela, España

    ROR https://ror.org/030eybx10

  27. 27 University of Tirana
    info

    University of Tirana

    Tirana, Albania

    ROR https://ror.org/03g9v2404

  28. 28 University of Vienna
    info

    University of Vienna

    Viena, Austria

    ROR https://ror.org/03prydq77

  29. 29 Valahia University of Targoviste
    info

    Valahia University of Targoviste

    Târgovişte, Rumanía

    ROR https://ror.org/00ywqar95

  30. 30 Veterinary and Agrochemical Research Centre
    info

    Veterinary and Agrochemical Research Centre

    Bruselas, Bélgica

    ROR https://ror.org/0153sam53

  31. 31 W. Szafer Institute of Botany, Polish Academy of Sciences, Krakow, Poland
Show affiliations +
Journal:
Environmental Pollution

ISSN: 0269-7491

Year of publication: 2015

Volume: 200

Pages: 93-104

Type: Article

DOI: 10.1016/J.ENVPOL.2015.01.036 SCOPUS: 2-s2.0-84923228234 WoS: WOS:000353097300011 GOOGLE SCHOLAR

More publications in: Environmental Pollution

Abstract

In recent decades, naturally growing mosses have been used successfully as biomonitors of atmospheric deposition of heavy metals and nitrogen. Since 1990, the European moss survey has been repeated at five-yearly intervals. In 2010, the lowest concentrations of metals and nitrogen in mosses were generally found in northern Europe, whereas the highest concentrations were observed in (south-)eastern Europe for metals and the central belt for nitrogen. Averaged across Europe, since 1990, the median concentration in mosses has declined the most for lead (77%), followed by vanadium (55%), cadmium (51%), chromium (43%), zinc (34%), nickel (33%), iron (27%), arsenic (21%, since 1995), mercury (14%, since 1995) and copper (11%). Between 2005 and 2010, the decline ranged from 6% for copper to 36% for lead; for nitrogen the decline was 5%. Despite the Europe-wide decline, no changes or increases have been observed between 2005 and 2010 in some (regions of) countries. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd.