2. ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE OF
BRYOPHYTES
[AS BIOINDICATORS OF SOIL WATER
AND AIR POLLUTION]
By – Chetna Shukla
under the guidance
of:- DR.MOSSES SIR

3. • What Are Bryophytes?
• Bryophyte (Bryon= moss, Phyton=plants) is a group of the
simplest and primitive plants of a group Embryophtya.
These plants occupy apposition intermediate between the
green thallophytes (algae) and pteridophytes.
• Bryophytes are called as amphibians of plant kingdom.
•
• Moss are those plants which are having rhizoids, axis and
leaves but are not having roots, stem and leaves.
•
• Bryophytes are mainly found in cool, moist and wet, shady
places. The plant commonly known as under vegetation.
•
• In India bryophytes are mainly distributed on Himalayan
ranges at the height of 4000ft. or higher above sea level.

7. • Their Economic
Importance is different in
different fields such as:-
• Medicinal use of
Bryophytes
• Antibiotic activities of
Bryophytes
• Bryophytes in
experimental Botany
• As a Source Of Food
• As Pollution Indicator
• Ecological uses

9. • Medicinal Use Of Bryophytes:-
•
• Watt(1891) had reported to the medicinal use of
Marchantia polymorpha, and few species of Jungermannia,
Anthocerose and Riccia.
•
•
•
•
Marchantia polymorpha Riccia Anthocerose
•

11. • Wren(1956),mentioned only
Polytrichum juniperium in
this connection.
•
•
•
• Roig y. mesa(1945) mentioned
that amongliverworts
Marchantia polymorpha has
been used to cure Pulmonary
Tuberculosisand affictions of
the liver
•

12. • Hart well(1971) reported that extracts of
• Marchantia polymorpha, M.stellata and
• Polytrichum commune posses
antitumour
• properties.
•
• The dried Sphagnum is boiled in water,
• The decoction is used in the treatment
• Of acute Haemorrage and Diseases of
• Eye.
•
• Tea made of Polytrichum commun
• helps to dissolve stones of kidney
• and gall bladder.

13. • Antibiotic activities of
Bryophytes:-
• Hayes(1947) reported that
aqueousextract of Conocephalum
conicum is antibioticaly
active.Conocephalum conicum
and Dumortiera
• Hirsute is active against Candida
albicans.

14. • Extract of of a species of
Sphegnum inhibited The
growth of Sarcina lutea.
•
•
•
• Gupta and
Singh(1971),reported that the
petroleum ether extracts of
two species of mosses namely
Barbula and are antibioticaly
active against 33 bacterial
species which include gram
negative,gram positive and acid
fast bacteria.

15. • Water retention
•
• Bryophytes have a high water-retention capacity due to
their structure, and tend to be most abundant in regions
with high levels of atmospheric humidity and low rates of
evaporation.
• They can quickly absorb water and release it slowly into the
surrounding environment, and can, therefore, contribute to
the retention of humid forest microclimates and the
regulation of water flow.
• Perhaps more importantly, these properties allow forests to
gradually release water into watercourses, preventing flash
floods, erosion, and landslides downstream.
• The water retention properties of bogs are particularly
impressive because of the absorptive properties of
Sphagnum moss.

16. • A bog within a watershed, as can be found on some
upland moorlands, is important far beyond its own
geographical extent.
• If such a bog is unable to function, the disruption to
the local hydrology can be catastrophic.
Sphegnum species

21. • Colonisation, soil stabilisation, and
accumulation of humus:-
• Mosses are often the first plants to colonise newly
exposed ground, bare rocks, and other abiotic surfaces.
• They are important in stabilising the soil crust, both in
recently established and existing habitats, such as
steep, sloping banks in woodland. They are also
valuable in controlling erosion and hydric cycling. In
semi-arid woodlands,bryophytes play important roles
as colonisers and soil stabilisers in areas where soil
surface conditions have declined as a result of
increased infiltration (Eldridge 1993).
• In the tree canopy in tropical forests, where the soil
often lacks a humus layer and is poor in nutrients,
bryophytes also assist in the accumulation of humus on
branches and twigs.

22. • Epiphytic humus accumulated by bryophytes can
amount to as much as 2.5 tons/ha of dry matter in
elfin cloudforests of East Africa (Pócs 1980).

23. • Bryophytes in experimental Botany:-
• The liverworts and mosses have played an
important role as research tools in the various
phases of botany such as genetics,experimental
morphology and physiology,
• The mechanism of sex determination in plants
was discovered for the first time in a liverwort
Sphaerocarpos.
• Giminghan and Birse(1957) studied correlation
between growth form and habitate in
bryophytes.

25. • Ecological Uses
• Bryophytes are among the oldest
land plants, few of them have
reached many commercial
importance, and their usefulness is
known to few.
• Grosse-Brauckmann(1979)
reported that there were
indications of stone age uses of the
moss Neckera crispa (feather moss)
by prehistoric men in a lakeshore
settlement in west Germany.
• Modern uses embrace ecology,
horticulture, construction,
household uses,medicines and
even food.

31. • Bryophytes as a source
of food:-
•
• Bryophytes are not directaly
used as human food.However
landley(1956) made mention
Sphegnum as a wretched food
in barbarous countries.
•
• Bryum and Polytrichum
constitute the Chief diet of the
Norwegian grouse chicks diet.
Bryum

32. • The capsules of Moor
inhibiting mosses are
Bryum
• The favourite food of
of the red grouse
chicks.
•
•
• Some English birds
such as field
fare,song thrush and
black bird include
some mosses as a
small part of their
regular diet.

35. BIOINDICATORS

36. • Bryophytes as pollution
indicator:-
•
• Rubling and taylor(1979) showed
that both alive and air dried
mosses particularly Sphagnum
can absorb metals.The
accumulation of heavy metals
cations in mosses enables them
to be used as atmospheric and
aquatic pollution indicators and
in mineralogical survey.

37. BRYOPHYTES AS INDICATORS OF WATER
POLLUTION -
• The life form of bryophytes is very simple so they are more
affected by water pollution than any other plant..
• It is due to following reasons –
• The plant body is gametophytic soft and delicate.
• They prefer to grow in moist and shady places.
• The plants lack well developed vascular system comparising
of xylem and phloem.
• They lack well developed root system but have rhizoids
which help in absorption of water.
• Water is essential for fertilization.
• If water is absorbed the it either move from cell to cell or
by external capillary space.

38. • Thus due to following reasons the polluted water affect the life
forms including morphology,anatomy,fertilization,spore
germination and physiology.
• Some aquatic bryophytes which are pollution tolerent species have
been recomonded to moniter the level of pollution in water.These
speciesb are –
• 1).Amblystegium riparium - cosmopoliton in distribution and found
in running and stagnant water or sewage rich in nutrient.
• 2). Eurhynechium riparioides - found only in northern region of
earth .it grow in river and pond of rich in
nutrient.Empain(1967)andEmpain et.al.(1980)reported pollutants
and heavy metal in these waters.
• 3).Fontinalis antipyretica - found only in northern region of earth
and found in running and stagnant water . Welsh and Dinny(1980)
and have analysed Cu and Pb and the moss.
• Pande et.al.(1986) ,and Sinha(1976) during a comprehansive study
of river Ganga,have reported some specific Bryophytes which
appear on its bank and are affected by river water quality.These
are..-

39. • 1)- Riccia gangatica – pollution tolrent species tuberculate
rhizoids and marginal scales are more developed in highly
polluted sites.
• 2)-Riccia frostii – pollution senstive speciesgrows in lesser
polluted sites.
• 3)-Funaria hygrometrica – found only in those sites where
cremation takes place and benthic and margin soil is rich in
Ca and P.
• 4)-Phsycomitrium indicum – It is a moss which absorbs
heavy metals.
• Pandey et.el. (2001) have reported that bryophytes growing
on river banks of ganga absorbs very high level of heavy
metals like Cr,Zr and Ni.

40. BRYOPHYTES AS INDICATORS OF AIR
POLLUTION -
• The bryophytes have been reported to be good indicators of air pollution.
• They are very senstive to air pollution due to their simple gametophytic
body structure.
• The air pollutants are mainly of three types –
• 1)-In form of gases. 2)-In form of particulate matter. 3)-Microorganisms and
sporespollens of plants.
• The bryophytes being very sensitive to gaseous and particulate matters, are
being used as bio indicators.
• It is being reported that air pollutants affect the habitate and growt form of
bryophytes.
• Within last century the Belgium bryoflora has lost 20 species of liverworts
and 94 species of mosses.
• The Dutch bryoflora was depleted 15% of terrestial 13% of epiphytes.
• In Amsterdam 23 species of bryophytes are now extinct from the city.

41. • The senstivity of bryophytes towards air pollution increases
from terricolous to saxicolous and corticolous species.
• The moss protonema is more senstive than its mature
gametophore(Gilbert, 1969).
• De Sloover and Le Blanc (1970) have also reported that
fertility of bryophytes decreases as pollution level
increases.
• Daly (1970) reported some bryophytes which are able to
tolerate levels of solution on stone walls than on tree
trunks.Some species are
Tortula princeps, Bryum rubrum, Ceratodon purpureus, and
Pohila cruda.

42. • Air pollution inhibits gametangial formation and sexual
reproduction in bryophytes. They also reduce
photosynthesis by degrading chlorophyll and growth of
plants and eventually cause their death.
• Metals and metalloid are accumulated by bryophytes from
the substratum, wind-blown or in wet deposition. When
the metal enters the cell, it inhibits the photosynthetic
activity.
• Acidification may damage cell membranes, solubilize
potentially toxic metals like Al3+ and worsen the impact of
other pollutants like SO2 (Farmer et al., 1992).
• Aquatic bryophytes accumulate heavy metals from
contaminated water to a much greater extent than vascular
plants as the metal uptake is less seasonal and partly
because they can absorb over their entire surface

44. • Bryophytes growing on
stone walls can tolerate
higher levels of
pollution than those of
tree trunks. In case of
epiphytes species
growing on tree base
can cope with the
pollution conditions
better than those of
tree trunks. Shady and
alkaline niches are
more preferred by
bryophytes.

45. • Ecological Uses:-
•
• Liverworts and mosses have been found
to be good indicaters of enviromental
conditions. For the first time
Cajander(1926), in his theory of forest
type in finland, used terrestrial
bryophytes as one of the characterizing
plants in classifying forest types. Their
values as an indicator of certain forest
habitats was further supported by
Brinkman (1929) and Richards (1932).
•
• Bell and Lodge (1963) showed that the
occurrence of the certain aquatic
mosses could be correlated with
calcium and nutrient contents in the
water. Romanova (1965) and Jeglum
(1971) founded that bryophytes
indicated the condition of pH and water
level in peat lands.

46. • Besides above mentioned uses of
Bryophytes there is lots of uses related to
environments,such as-
• As aids in soil conservation.
• Formation of soil and development of
vegetation cover.
• Bog succession
• Role as rock builder.
•
• As aids in soil conservation:-
•
• The mosses prevent sheet erosion of
soil.they grow in dense stands forming a
mat or carpet like structure.this thik moss
carpet serves a two folds function.Firstly it
bears the impact of the falling rain drops
and secondly it holds much of the water
that falls.consequentaly the amount of run
off is considerly reduced. Soil erosion by bryophytes

47. • Besides there is no or
little turbidity in the run
off.
• Conard demonstrated
that the turbid water
flowing through the
mosse mat is shorn much
of its sediment.the inter
twined moss stems and
the underground rhizoids
bind the soil partical
together to a considerable
depth.so firmly that there
is no or little erosion even
on a steepy hill side.Grout
held that even the moss
protonema mat checks
soil erosion Mat formed by bryophytes

48. • Formation of soil and
development of
vegetation cover:-
•
• The lichen and mosses play an
important role in soil formation.both
are slow but efficient soil formers.The
lichens however are the pioneers to
colonise barren,bare rocky surfaces
where no other plants can grow.the
lichen thalli secretes organic acids
which gradually dissolve and
disintegrate the rocks to which they
cling.the rock partical together with
the dead and decayding older part of
the lichen thalli form fertile soil.
• Mosses make their appearance when
sufficient amount of this fertile soil
gathers in the crevices of the rocks
surface.
Soil formation

49. • The progressive growth of
and death of the older parts
of the mosses adds to the
substratum begun by the
lichens.
• Dust and debrisblown by
the wind rapidaly
accumulate between the
erect moss stem.
• In the course of time ,the
depth of soil under under
the moss mats may be more
than one inch rich.
• The moss mats collect
sufficient moistures and
contains humus to faorm a
suitable substratum for the
growth of many rocks loving
herbaceous plants.
Vegetation of bryophytes

50. • Bog succession:-
•
• Weaver and Clements remarked that
mosses play an important role in bog
succession from open water to climax
forest.
• The mosses especially peat mosses
established on the bonk of lakes and
other shallow bodies of water extend
inwards and grow over the surface of
water with their stems interwined to
form thi ck mats. These surface mats
over bodies of water gives the
appearance of solid soil.suchareas are
called quacking bogs.
• The thick moss mat because of the
moisture and humus forms a suitable
substratum for the germination of the
seed of various species hydrophytic
plants.

51. • The older part of these plants
gradually die and settle to the
bottom.
• In the course of time,these lakes
and shallow bodies of water
become filled up with partially
decomposed old parts of mosses
and other hydrophytic plants.
• Thus the areas which originaly
were sterile sheets of
water,become converted into solid
soil supporting vegetation.
• The mosses and hydrophytic
angiosperms eventually
disappear.they are replaced by
forest growth of mesophyte type.
• The mosses thus play a vital role in
changing the landscape.
Bog succession by bryophytes

52. • Role as Rock Builder:-
•
• Certain mosses such as Bryum,
Hypnum, Fissidense are growing in
association with other aquatic
plants such as chara play a
remarkable role as rock
builders.these plants grow in
shallow waters of lakes,streams
and springs which contain a large
amount of Calcium bicarbonate.
•
• The plant brings about
decomposition of bicarbonate ions
by abstracting fee Carbon di
oxide.the insoluble calcium
carbonate precipitates.
•

53. • This insoluble mineral,on
exposure,hardens
forming calcareous(lime)
rock like deposites
around these plants.
•
• These travertine
deposites continue to
groe by the aid of mosses
and algae growing in the
water extending over
areas of several hundreds
square feet.
•
• The travertine rock
deposites are extensively
used as a building stones.
Bryophytes as rock builders.

54. • Some other extra importance of
bryophytes
•
• Large biomass:-
•
• In some tropical montane forests (for
example, those in
• Los Nevados, Colombia), the dry weight of
epiphytic material in the upper canopy has
been recorded at over 100kg/m², or about
12% of the total above-ground, dry tree
weight (Hofstede et al. 1993). The total dry
weight of epiphytes in these forests was
estimated at 44 tons/ha (90%being
bryophytes).
• Bryophytes formed more of the
photosynthetically active (i.e., green)
biomass in these forests than all the other
plant groups put together. It is important to
state that the bryophyte mass in this type
of forest is a major component of the total
biomass and is, therefore, an important
component of the hydrological, chemical,
and organic matter cycles (Hofstede et al.
1993,Rhoades 1995).

55. • Relationships with other organisms:-
•
• Bryophyte communities are critical to the survival of
a tremendous diversity of organisms, including
insects, millipedes, and earthworms. Numerous
arthropods, such as acarinae and collembola, and
tardigrades, are dependent on mosses and
liverworts as habitat, or as a food source.
• The nutrient-rich, spore-producing capsules are
particularly palatable to some insects, and molluscs
such as slugs. Bryophytes are also a food source for
birds and mammals in cold environments, and are
eaten by reindeer,geese, ducks, sheep, musk-ox,
lemmings, and other rodents

56. • Bryophytes may also be important as nesting
materialfor birds or act as protective habitat for
amphibians. Forexample, in tropical montane forests,
pendant or trailingmosses, specifically Papillaria,
Floribundaria, Meteorium,and Squamidium, and a
number of liverworts (e.g., Frullania and Plagiochila)
are used in nest construction. Bryophytes also provide
suitable substrates for blue-green algae
(cyanobacteria); this species fixes nitrogen from the air
into solid nitrogen compounds that are then accessible
to plants (Bentley and Carpenter 1984).

57. • The cultural and aesthetic qualities of
bryophytes:-
•
• Bryophytes have a deep, but generally unappreciated
and unrecognised place in the cultural heritage of
many peoples.
• They are an intrinsic part of the diversity and beauty of
life. They are worthy of protection at a level equivalent
to that afforded to other species, habitats, ancient
monuments,and great works of art.

58. • In Japan, growing mosses is a traditional part of
horticulture (Ishikawa 1974), and there is a long history
of bryophytes being used in gardening (Perin 1962) and
as ornamental material for cultivation in landscape
trays (Hirota 1981); the miniature landscapes beneath
bonsai trees are created with mosses. Mosses are also
planted in “moss-gardens”, particularly at Buddhist
temples, where they create an atmosphere of beauty,
harmony, and serenity,reflecting the spirit of Buddhism
.
A Japanese moss garden (Kyoto, Japan).
T. Hallingbäck

59. • In urban environments, bryophytes are very often a
component of the surrounding vegetation, and can be found
on buildings,trees, and walls (Fig. 3.3). Bryophytes can even
prevent the negative effects of weathering of ancient
buildings.

62. THANK YOU