Welcome to
Bryomonitoring
Canada
We are a community science initiative that hopes to engage academics, field researchers, students, hobbyists and general members of the public in collecting moss for air quality analysis. Join us in our 2022 field season to collect moss all over Canada!
What is bryomonitoring?
Biomonitoring refers to using plants or animals to monitor the environment. Bryophytes (mosses) are ideal for monitoring air quality since they receive all their nutrients from the atmosphere rather than the soil. While setting up and maintaining air quality monitoring stations can be difficult and expensive, moss is free and found almost everywhere! That’s why we chose bryomonitoring to help us gain an understanding of air quality across Canada, but we need volunteers like you to help collect samples!
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How can I participate?
Community science relies on the participation of interested people to help us gather data for research. If you find yourself out hiking, exploring, or doing field research, taking a few minutes to collect samples for us is easy! Here’s how it works:
Research in action
Our data and publications, once available, will be shared here for everybody to access and use. And if you choose, we’ll put your name on our sample map to show the world you sampled moss for air quality research. We’ll also send you a small token of our thanks in the mail!
Spot Your Moss: Must-have mosses
We’re searching for two particular mosses that are found throughout Canada: Hylocomium splendens and Pleurozium schreberi. Have you seen either of these mosses around? Find out how to identify them in the field, and what to do when you find some!
Hylocomium splendens
Also known as stair-step moss, Hylocomium splendens is a feather moss with distinctive red stems and a “stepped” appearance.
Pleurozium schreberi
Pleurozium schreberi is also a type of feather moss sometimes called red-stemmed feather moss. It has a loose appearance and commonly grows in big mats or “beards” .
Field season in
2022 (now closed)
Spring to fall is the ideal moss sampling time in most of Canada! We have over 900 grid areas to cover and are aiming to get as many as possible over the next year to create a deposition map for various metals and nutrients across the country.
Reserve Your Turf: Sign up to sample (now closed)
The bryomonitoring.ca community
From the blog
Recent Posts
- This is it – the final sampling season! May 31, 2022
- Welcome ABMI May 5, 2022
- Bryomonitoring featured on CBC blog March 23, 2022