Role of heavy metals in species composition of moss: An insight study in contaminated mining sites of Eastern India

Mining activities are significant contributors to heavy metal pollution in the environment, which poses risks to both the natural ecosystem and human health. Thus, the purpose of this study is to determine the extent to which mining-affected regions of Eastern India have undergone heavy metal-induced changes to ecosystem composition, specifically in soil heavy metal contamination and moss diversity. The relationship between the abundance of moss species and the heavy metal content of the soil in the study regions has been studied. A total of 48 soil samples were taken throughout the study areas, and 41 moss species spanning 14 families were identified. The identification process of mosses in sampling sites involves meticulously scrutinizing their morphological characteristics. Pottiaceae and Fissidentaceae were the most accountable families at the species level. The Shannon diversity index revealed variations in moss diversity among the regions. The concentrations of heavy metals were determined using AAS (Systronics, model No. 816), chromium (Cr), iron (Fe), and manganese (Mn) were the most noticeable metal in SP1 (Chromite mining areas in Jajpur), SP2(Iron mining area in Keojhar's Joda-Barbil), and SP3(manganese mining areas in Sundargarh's Koira-Joda), respectively. The metal concentrations were highest in the storage area and lowest at 1–3 km. Correlation analysis showed positive relationships among the metals and negative relationships between metals and mosses. Moss family, like Bruchiaceae, exhibited significant negative correlations with specific metals like Cr. These research findings help to understand the effects of mining on soil contamination, and moss diversity.