Mosses are small flowerless plants that typically grow in dense green clumps or mats, often in damp or shady locations. The individual plants are usually composed of simple leaves that are generally only one cell thick, attached to a stem that may be branched or unbranched and has only a limited role in conducting water and nutrients. Bryophytes is a collective term for mosses, hornworts and liverworts.
According to a new research, mosses can be used to measure the impact of atmospheric change and could prove a low-cost way to monitor urban pollution.
Mosses which generally absorb water and nutrients from their immediate environments are often cheaper to use than other methods of environmental evaluation, and can also reflect changes to ecosystems.
The “bioindicator”, moss, responds to pollution or drought-stress by changing shape, density or disappearing. In this way it allows scientists to calculate atmospheric alterations. This method is very cost effective and important for getting information about atmospheric conditions.
Humid cities where moss thrives could benefit most from using it as a bioindicator.
