THE CHARACTERIZATION OF MOSSES AS BIOINDICATORS AND BIOACCUMULATORS IN AIR POLLUTION MONITORING

In this work the accumulation of heavy metals in different moss species collected in the same sampling sites is studied. Samples of terrestrial mosses Hypnum cupressiforme, Homalothecium, Neckera crispa and Pseudoscleropodium purum were collected from different sampling sites in rural area of the southern part of Albania. The moss samples were collected during the period September-October 2010 according to the guidelines of the UNECE ICP Vegetation. The concentrations of heavy metals (Cd, Pb, Cu, Zn, Fe and Mn) were determined using AAS and CV - AAS technique. The quantity of accumulated heavy metals differs in various moss species from the same sampling sites. In order to evaluate the better heavy metal bio accumulator moss species the inter-species correlation between the moss samples is performed. Based on the concentration of heavy metals in the analyzed samples the characterization of bio accumulation behavior was performed.