A guide to discovering how nature helps us better understand the environment in which we live!
Introduction: Bryophytes and Bioindication
Bryophytes, which appeared on the Earth’s surface during the Devonian, about 400 million years ago, are considered the first terrestrial plants to have demonstrated the ability to live permanently on the surface of our planet. They currently have a cosmopolitan distribution, meaning they thrive in a variety of environments and substrates on all continents. Bryophytes include the well-known mosses, the lesser-known liverworts, bothtallose and foliose, and the ancient and rare hornworts.
Bryophytes are incredibly simple in structure and, in most cases, remain unnoticed because of their small size. They are capable of performing photosynthesis and grow no more than a few decimeters. They are perfectly adapted to humid environments but are also able to live in drier settings. In particular, we call them epiphytes when they grow on other plants, using them only as a support. Mosses, due to their small size, are able to provide us with precise ecological information about the quality of the environment such as, for example, when external factors intervene that limit their development. For this reason, they are considered good biological indicators.
Project description and objectives
This study, conducted for the first time in South Tyrol, aims to fill a significant gap in environmental monitoring, with a specific focus on air quality in our cities and rural areas. The approach, which takes advantage of the use of bryophytes as bioindicators, is part of a process of continuous assessment and improvement of environmental quality. Bioindication therefore, is a technique that exploits the sensitivity of bryophytes, to atmospheric changes and allows us to obtain information on the environmental situation of the areas examined
Within the Biodiversity Monitoring South Tyrol (BMS), for the first time, two strands of research have been initiated that use epiphytic bryophytes to calculate the Index of Atmospheric Purity. Data collection is conducted by transects through urbanized areas and forested areas.
Method
Within the BMS transect we identify three suitable trees; a grid consisting of 5 rectangles is placed on them.
This grid is placed on the trunk at a height of 120 to 200 cm at the point of maximum bryophyte density. The species and their frequency within each rectangle are noted.
Trees used for surveys must have the following characteristics:
- trunk slope of no more than 10 degrees to eliminate microclimatic variations due to preferential water drainage areas.
- circumference greater than 70 centimeters: young trees may have different ecological conditions than adult ones.
- absence of obvious disturbance phenomena (obvious diseases, fungicide applications, stubble cutting, etc.).
From the calculation of the presence-absence of the number of species within the grids, relative to each tree, numerical values will be obtained that, compared with a reference table, will indicate seven more or less pronounced levels of environmental naturalness.
Contact: Silvia.Poponessi@eurac.edu
