Heavy metals in aquatic bryophytes from the Ore mountains (Germany).

Concentration of the metals Ni, Cr, Co, Zn, Mn, Pb, Cd, Cu, Ba, Al, and V as well as the macronutrients Ca, Mg, and K were measured in water and in the aquatic bryophytes Platyhypnidium riparioides, Scapania sp., and Fontinalis antipyretica sampled from streams in the Erzgebirge (Ore Mountains, eastern Germany). These plants, as used to evaluate the spatial distribution of elements in the examined streams, contained elevated levels of all the investigated metals except Sr. The highest levels of Cd (195 mg/kg), Cu (233 mg/kg), Zn (22500 mg/kg), Pb (595 mg/kg), and Co (140 mg/kg) seriously exceed background values. In recent years input of pollutants has decreased in the Erzgebirge area and the deposition can now be addressed as being comparable to that of rural areas without major local or regional influences. This investigation indicates that the studied aquatic mosses reflect part of the pollutant loadings released in the past in the Erzgebirge area of which remnants are still present in the environment. Two models describing the con-centrations of Fe and Zn in aquatic bryophytes in relation to concentrations of some elements in water are presented.