title: Sphagnum palustre clone vs native Pseudoscleropodium purum: A first trial in the field to validate the future of the moss bag technique.
abstract: Although a large body of literature exists on the use of transplanted mosses for biomonitoring of air pollution, no article has addressed so far the use and the accumulation performance of a cloned moss for this purpose. In this work, a direct comparison of metal accumulation between bags filled with a Sphagnum palustre L. clone or with native Pseudoscleropodium purum Hedw., one of the most used moss species in biomonitoring surveys, was investigated. The test was performed in sites with different atmospheric contamination levels selected in urban, industrial, agricultural and background areas of Italy and Spain. Among the eighteen elements investigated, S. palustre was significantly enriched in 10 elements (Al, Ba, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Pb, Sr, V and Zn), while P. purum was enriched only in 6 elements (Al, Ba, Cu, Hg, Pb and Sr), and had a consistently lower uptake capacity than S. palustre. The clone proved to be more sensitive in terms of metal uptake and showed a better performance as a bioaccumulator, providing a higher accumulation signal and allowing a finer distinction among the different land uses and levels of pollution. The excellent uptake performance of the S. palustre clone compared to the native P. purum and its low and stable baseline elemental content, evidenced in this work, are key features for the improvement of the moss bag approach and its large scale application.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, Campus Monte S. Angelo, Via Cinthia 4, 80126 Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Capozzi
authors.affiliation: Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Naples Federico II, Via Università, 100, 80055 Portici (NA), Italy.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Adamo
authors.affiliation: Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Naples Federico II, Via Università, 100, 80055 Portici (NA), Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Di Palma
authors.affiliation: Department of Functional Biology, Faculty of Biology, University of Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Aboal
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Sciences, Earth and Environment, University of Siena, Via P.A. Mattioli 4, 53100 Siena, Italy.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bargagli
authors.affiliation: Department of Functional Biology, Faculty of Biology, University of Santiago de Compostela, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Fernandez
authors.affiliation: Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Sciences, University of A Coruña, 15071 A Coruña, Spain.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lopez Mahia
authors.affiliation: Plant Biotechnology, Faculty of Biology, University of Freiburg, Schänzlestraße 1, 79104 Freiburg, Germany; BIOSS - Centre for Biological Signalling Research, University of Freiburg, Schänzlestr. 18, 79104 Freiburg, Germany.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Reski
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Sciences, University of Trieste, Via L. Giorgieri 10, 34127 Trieste, Italy.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tretiach
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, Campus Monte S. Angelo, Via Cinthia 4, 80126 Naples, Italy. Electronic address: valeria.spagnuolo@unina.it.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Spagnuolo
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, Campus Monte S. Angelo, Via Cinthia 4, 80126 Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Giordano
mesh_terms: D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D000397:Air Pollution / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D044002:Bryophyta; D019068:Bryopsida / Q000737:chemistry / Q000502:physiology*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D007558:Italy; D008628:Mercury; D008670:Metals / Q000032:analysis; D013030:Spain; D044003:Sphagnopsida / Q000737:chemistry / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D008670:Metals; D008628:Mercury
keywords: Active biomonitoring; Air quality; MOSSclone; Metals and metalloids; Mossphere