Research Information System
Technical Report, pp.1-18, 2008
The European moss biomonitoring network was originally established in 1990 to estimate atmospheric heavy metal deposition. The moss technique is based on the fact that carpet forming, ectohydric mosses obtain most trace elements and nutrients directly from precipitation and dry deposition with little uptake from the substrate. The technique provides a surrogate, time-integrated measure of element deposition from the atmosphere to terrestrial systems. It is easier and cheaper than conventional precipitation analysis as it avoids the need for deploying large numbers of precipitation collectors with an associated long-term programme of routine sample collection and analysis. Therefore, a much higher sampling density can be achieved than with conventional precipitation analysis. Since 2001, the European moss survey has been coordinated by the ICP Vegetation1 Programme Coordination Centre at the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH) Bangor, UK. The ICP Vegetation was established in the late 1980s to consider the science for quantifying the impacts of air pollutants on vegetation. It reports to the Working Group on Effects (WGE) of the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (LTRAP). The WGE monitors and reviews the effects of atmospheric pollutants on different components of the environment and health. Thus, the ICP Vegetation provides information for the review and possible revision of the Protocols of the LRTAP Convention. The European moss survey has been repeated at five-yearly intervals and the most recent survey was conducted in 2005/6. For the first time 16 countries determined the nitrogen concentration in mosses (at almost 3,000 sites), as a pilot study in selected Scandinavian countries had shown that there was a good linear relationship between the total nitrogen concentration in mosses and atmospheric nitrogen deposition rates. The aims of the 2005/6 survey were to establish whether mosses can be used as biomonitors of atmospheric nitrogen deposition across Europe, identify the main polluted areas and produce European maps.