Concentrations of long-lived artificial radionuclides in the moss-lichen cover of mountain plant communities

Specific features of⁹⁰Sr and¹³⁷Cs accumulation in individual lichen species and in the moss-lichen cover of plant communities were studied in some mountain ranges of the Polar and Northern Urals. The results showed that the amounts of radionuclides in lichens and mosses of mountain plant communities are at the level characteristic of the moss-lichen cover of flat ecosystems, and their accumulation depends on⁹⁰Sr and¹³⁷Cs input with the global radioactive fallout. The radionuclide contents in lichens and mosses sampled from different mountain rocks, slopes, and elevations fluctuate around this level. The differences depend both on the structural and functional properties of plants and on the climatic and ecological features of their environment.