Biodiversity of Plants and Their Use in Biomonitoring and Environmental Protection

Dear Colleagues,

The impact of environmental pollution on living organisms has been known for a long time, but it was only in the second half of the 20th century that methodical studies began to be carried out on the impact of anthropopressure on changes in ecosystems. Living organisms began to be used as biological indicators of environmental pollution. Cyclic and quantitative studies of pollutant concentrations in bioaccumulators became the basis of modern biological monitoring (biomonitoring) of environmental pollution.

Analysis of trace elements, including heavy metals, but also polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and microplastics accumulated in algae, mosses, or lichens used in biological monitoring provides a wealth of information on, among other things, the concentration and origin of pollutants and the directions of their spread. Biomonitoring is used to assess the level of pollution of selected ecosystems, as well as to study the impact of individual emitters on the environment. An important element in determining the concentrations of pollutants in biological material used in biomonitoring is the proper planning of the experiment, taking into account, among other things: the means of collecting or exposure samples, the selection of analytical methods, and the means of evaluating and interpreting the results.

The purpose of this special issue of Plants is to expand the current state of knowledge on topics related to the use of biological monitoring methods in assessing the state of environmental pollution. The topics of the issue include issues related to, among others, the biodiversity of selected ecosystems; the sorption properties of bioindicators and the possibility of their use in biomonitoring of environmental pollution; the use of plants in phytoremediation and environmental protection. The scope of the issue also includes issues of environmental bioanalysis in the broadest sense, using plants.

Prof. Dr. Małgorzata Rajfur
Dr. Paweł Świsłowski
Guest Editors

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• plant biodiversity
• environmental biomonitoring
• environmental pollution
• environmental protection
• bioindicators