Metal and macroelement concentration and effect of nutrient addition in terrestrial bryophytes growing on serpentine massifs in Lower Silesia, Poland

Abstract.

Concentrations of the elements N, P, K, Ca, Mg, S, Fe, Al, Ni, Co, Cr, Zn and Mn were measured in serpentine soils and in terrestrial mosses sampled from the serpentine massifs in Lower Silesia, Poland. The investigated soils were typical for serpentine areas: poor in N, K and Ca, and rich in Fe, Ni, Co, Cr and Zn. Concentrations of Ni, Cr and Zn in the investigated mosses were much higher than the levels considered as excessive or toxic for plants. The Mg/Ca ratio was lower in plants than in soils. Accumulation ratios for Ca in plants growing on serpentine soils was higher than those for Mg. This ratio in control plants growing on quaternary deposits was much lower than in the mosses growing on serpentine soils. Nutritional experiments indicated that fertilisation with N, P, K and Ca significantly decreased the availability of Ni and Cr for the moss Polytrichastrum formosum, decreased the Mg/Ca ratio and influenced positively the length and biomass production of the examined moss.