Bioaccumulation of elements in bryophytes from Serra da Estrela, Portugal, and Veluwezoom, the Netherlands

Background, Aims and Scope Pollution by heavy metals over large areas and long periods of time may cause chronic damage to living organisms and must be carefully controlled. One way to determine the extent of environmental contamination is by measuring the levels of contaminants in plants. The use of mosses as biomonitors is a convenient method to determine levels of (atmospheric) deposition, as terrestrial mosses obtain most of their supply of mineral elements from precipitation and dry deposition of airborne particles. Mosses have therefore received increasing attention as a suitable tool for monitoring regional patterns of elemental deposition from the atmosphere in large-scale studies in various countries, in areas close to industrial installations as well as in areas not expected to be contaminated. Although this technique is widely known, ecological studies of this type have rarely been done in Portugal. The aim of this paper is to evaluate and compare the spatial distribution of heavy metals in Hypnum cupressiforme, Pleurozium schreberi, Dicranum scoparium and Polytrichum piliferum collected from the Serra da Estrela natural park in Portugal and in the Veluwezoom natural park in the Netherlands. The selected species are the most widely used bryophytes for biomonitoring in the boreal region. The popularity of these species for this purpose is due to their wide ecological amplitude and distribution.Methods At 54 sampling sites in both nature parks, samples of Hypnum cupressiforme, Pleurozium schreberi, Dicranum scoparium and Polytrichum piliferum were collected. Plant digests were analysed for Al, Ba, Ca, Cr, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Ni, Sr, V, Zn, Pb, Cu, Cd, N and P. Differentiations between sampling sites in terms of concentrations of elements in mosses were evaluated by ANOVA and the least significant difference was calculated. The normality of the analysed features was checked with the chi square test. After standardization, the matrix of 54 samples and 10 heavy metals was subjected to numerical classification to detect groups of samples with similar patterns of metal concentrations. The clustering algorithm was prepared with Ward’s method, and the City Block Manhattan method was used for the similarity measure. Metals and samples were also subjected to ordination to reveal possible gradients of heavy metal levels, using PCA. Correlations were calculated between concentrations of metals and factors 1 and 2, allowing the dependence between the concentration of metals and factors (factor loading) to be estimated.Results and Discussion All species examined in both areas contained elevated levels of Mn and Pb. For each particular species, concentrations of N, P and Pb were significantly higher at Serra da Estrela, while concentrations of Cu were significantly higher at the Veluwezoom. Mosses from Portugal and the Netherlands differed significantly mainly in the concentrations of Al, Ba, Cr, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb and V. This differentiation did not exceed that within the mosses from Portugal.Conclusions Mosses from Portugal and the Netherlands differ significantly mainly in the concentrations of Al, Ba, Cr, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb and V. This differentiation does not exceed the differentiation within the mosses from Portugal.Recommendation and Outlook Further research is required into the origin and deposition of the polluting elements in other environmental compartments.     

几种荒漠植物对干旱过程的生理适应性比较

在甘肃临泽实地取样进行试验,比较了胡杨、花棒和梭梭等荒漠植物离体枝条的光合、蒸腾作用对组织水势降低的响应,以探讨其对干旱过程的适应性.结果显示,梭梭在-2～-5.5MPa、胡杨在-1～-4.5MPa的枝叶水势下具有较高的光合速率和水分利用效率,花棒和二白杨则在水势低于-2 MPa时光合速率和水分利用效率均显著下降;同时,梭梭的最大蒸腾速率不足2 mmol m-2 s-1,而同样条件下胡杨和二白杨的最大蒸腾速率则在4～6 mmol m2 s-1.因此,几种荒漠植物中,梭梭最能够适应干旱荒漠环境;胡杨因蒸腾失水较多而对环境水分有较强的依赖性,适应极端干旱的能力不及梭梭;花棒虽具有蒸腾耗水少的特点,但因在环境严重缺水时光合效率低而影响了其对荒漠的适应能力.