Using Mosses as Bioindicators of Potentially Toxic Element Contamination in Ecologically Valuable Areas Located in the Vicinity of a Road: A Case Study

Maja Radziemska, Zbigniew Mazur, Agnieszka Bes, Grzegorz Majewski, Zygmunt M. Gusiatin and Martin Brtnicky
Additional contact information
Maja Radziemska: Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Warsaw University of Life Sciences—SGGW, Nowoursynowska 159, 02-776 Warsaw, Poland
Zbigniew Mazur: Faculty of Environmental Management and Agriculture, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Pl. Lodzki 4, 10-727 Olsztyn, Poland
Agnieszka Bes: Faculty of Environmental Management and Agriculture, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Pl. Lodzki 4, 10-727 Olsztyn, Poland
Grzegorz Majewski: Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Warsaw University of Life Sciences—SGGW, Nowoursynowska 159, 02-776 Warsaw, Poland
Zygmunt M. Gusiatin: Faculty of Environmental Sciences, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Słoneczna St. 45G, 10-719 Olsztyn, Poland
Martin Brtnicky: Department of Geology and Pedology, Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology, Mendel University in Brno, Zemedelska 1/1665, 613 00 Brno, Czech Republic

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 20, 1-12

Abstract: This study analyzed the impact of road transportation on the concentration of Zn, Ni, Pb, Co, and Cd in moss ( Pleurozium schreberi ). The study was carried out over five years near a national road running from the north to the east (Poland) in the area of Natura 2000 sites. Samples were collected at three significantly different locations: (1) near a sharp bend, (2) near a straight section of the road in a woodless area, and (3) in a slightly wooded area. At each location, moss samples were collected from sites situated 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, and 14 m from the road edge. The highest Zn and Cd contents in the moss were recorded 6 m from the road edge near a sharp bend (where vehicles brake sharply and accelerate suddenly). At the same location, at a distance of 2 m, the highest Pb concentration was noted, and at a distance of 4 m from the road, the highest Ni concentration was noted. The Co concentration in the moss was the highest near the woodless straight section at a distance of 2 and 12 m from the road. The concentrations of Zn, Pb, Ni, Co (only at the woodless location), and Cd (at all locations) were significantly and negatively correlated with distance from the road.

Keywords: bioindicators; road transportation; potentially toxic elements; Pleurozium schreberi (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/20/3963/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/20/3963/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:16:y:2019:i:20:p:3963-:d:277649

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().