Mosses and Plants for Environmental Monitoring

Topic 1 – Biomonitoring: plants, particularly mosses, are considered as bioindicators and bioaccumulators of biological compounds and pollutants, characterized both qualitatively (e.g., electron microscopy) and quantitatively (e.g., mass spectrometry). Among the methods, mosses can be used as transplants in “moss bags” to be exposed at monitoring sites.

Topic 2 – Bioadsorption: the chemical-physical properties of moss surfaces are studied through in vitro experiments, analysis of surface functional groups, and chemical-physical determination of the surface area, aiming to study plant-pollutant interactions from a chemical-physical perspective.

Topic 3 – Bioindication: analysis of moss biodiversity as a function of forest management operations. Specifically, species type and number of individuals on different types of deadwood are studied.

Topic 4 – Study of Peatlands: the functionality of peatlands as CO2 sinks is evaluated indirectly through the moss species that form them, i.e., Sphagnum, in terms of chemical-physical properties and physiological responses to parameter variations simulating climate changings.

Topic 5 – Herbaria as Historical Archives: moss samples from herbariums are analyzed to reconstruct the history of plant communities, the effects of climate change, and the deposition of atmospheric pollutants over the centuries.

Topic 6 – Plant Physiology and Stress: plants, particularly mosses, are studied from a physiological and biodiversity perspective in relation to disturbance factors in urban contexts, through field and laboratory experiments.