Heavy metal concentrations in the mosses of the Tatra Mountains (Czecho-Slovakia). Multivariate analysis

The results of chemical analysis on 267 samples of 26 moss species for Pb, Cd, Cu, Zn, Cr, Fe, Mn and Mo have led to their use for principal component analysis. Moss samples were collected throughout the Tatra Mountains (Czecho- Slovakia J from 1986 until 1989. This approach revealed the following important trends: - Disproportion between increasing concentration of Cr and the other elements. This trend explains 45% of the data variance. - Increasing Cd and Mn concentrations in tissues of Plagiomnium affine , Mnium spinosum, Hygrohypnum duriusculum, Sphagnum centrale and S. recurvum between the years 1988 - 1969. This trend accounts for 22% of the variance in the pattern of the heavy metal concentrations in the mosses. - Increase of Pb in relation to the altitude. This trend summarizes 14 % of the total data variance. Hygrohypnum duriusculum has appeared as a convenient moss species for Cr, Cd and Mn monitoring, Plagiomnium affine, Mnium spinosum, Sphagnum centrale and Sphagnum recurvum for Cd and Mn monitoring, Paraleucobrym longifolium for Pb and Cd monitoring and Andreaea nivalis and Sphagnum robustum for Pb monitoring, Polytrichum commune and Polytrichum formosum for Mo and Mn monitoring.