Current Atmospheric Deposition Loads and Their Trends in the Czech Republic Determined by Mapping the Distribution of Moss Element Contents

Abstract

Biomonitoring of atmospheric deposition loads of 13, 14 and 35 elements and their compounds through moss analysis was carried out in the Czech Republic (CZ) in 1991, 1995 and 2000, respectively. The last biomonitoring campaign revealed very high contents of typical soil elements and lanthanides in southern Moravia. The variations in current element contents in moss, which can be explained by the action of six factors, were correlated with altitude, with total biennial precipitation, and with the bedrock types in the sampling plots. The element contents in moss samples repeatedly collected from the identical plots showed a steady decrease in atmospheric deposition loads in the CZ in the last decade of the 20th century. The main reasons for this phenomenon are listed. The results of cluster analyses and PCAs have found no substantial changes in the qualitative element composition of atmospheric deposition in CZ in recent years. Isoline maps are presented, which document changes in the distribution of Cd, Pb and S contents in moss in 1995 and 2000. An estimate of absolute deposition loads (μg m−2 year−1) for given areas of the CZ can be made, using the list of bulk deposition indices.