Abstract
Bryophytes constitute an important proportion of the vegetation in the Western Ghats. Recent developmental activities cause an increase in the metal contaminants in the environment which ultimately accumulate in the plant system. Mosses have been used as indicator to monitor level of environmental pollution. In the present study, eighteen moss species and their soil substrata were analyzed to evaluate the accumulation capacity of heavy metals in mosses of different sites of Idukki District of Kerala. Statistically metal concentrations showed significant differences (p=5%) in interspecies, while the accumulation capacity of Campylopodium khasianum was higher than others. The substratum showed highest content of Cr followed by Ni and Pb in all the five selected sampling sites. All the mosses showed high accumulation of Cr (III) as compared to other metals (Cd, Cu, Pb, Ni) irrespective of their sampling sites. Among 18 mosses, Campylopodium khasianum was found to accumulate highest content of Cr, Cd, Ni and Pb, indicating that this moss can be used to reclaim soil contaminated with these metals.
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