Biomass mosses

The biomass of Tundra ecosystems gradually increases from 4-7 ton/ha for moss-lichen tundra to 28-29 ton/ha by dry weight for low-bush tundra. In the northern tundra, the plant biomass and dead organic matter are eventually shared. Southwards this percentage tends to diminish, and low-bush living biomass is smaller than dead plant remains mass. A typical feature of the Tundra ecosystems plant species is the prevalence of underground matter (roots) up to 70-80% of the total biomass. 

The dominant species are the spruce (Picea excelsa), the birch (Betula verrucosa, B. pubescens), the aspen (Populus tremula), and the alder (Aims incana). The moss and low bush layer is represented by the blueberry-bush (Vaccinium myrtiilus), hypnic mosses, separate species of cowberry (Vaccinium uliginosum) and flowering plants. The biomass of these Spruce Forest ecosystems reaches 10 ton/ha at the age of 100-150 years (Table 4). 

We can see from Table 4 that most of the Spruce Forest ecosystem biomass is accumulated in trees, with trunk mass predominating. The values of annual Net Primary Production (NPP) and litterfall production are more connected with needles. In living matter, the mass of moss and bush species makes up to 2-3% of the tree biomass, whereas in dead matter (litterfall), it is up to 10%. 

The correct /V-factor for protein found in herbaceous biomass will likely be different than 6.25. Yet, determining a perfectly accurate N-factor for the complex matrices of biomass feedstock and process samples may not be possible. The challenge is then to determine the most accurate N-factor possible for biomass feedstock and process samples. A strategy based on the consensus in the literature has been incorporated into the portfolio methods. These methods calculate the reasonable N-factor upper and lower limits for a given material. The limits are calculated using data from an amino acid (AA) analysis with multiple hydrolysis times and an accurate total nitrogen analysis substantially similar to the methods described by Mosse.127... 

Bormann et al. (1998) attempted to determine whether rates of weathering of primary minerals were being underestimated due to failure to include weathering products accumulating in the biomass and in soil. They compared two sandbox ecosystems (large monitored lysimeters) at Hubbard Brook, NH, one with red pine and the other relatively nonvegetated (containing sporadic lichens and mosses). 

Mosses are particularly prominent in the tropics, however, they have a significant presence in the boreal forest, the woodlands of the temperate zones, and tundra regions. In the arctic tundra, mosses can constitute 50-90% of the ecosystem s biomass. 

Part of the large variation in estimates of biomass and NPP is, however, methodological. There is a 5-fold variation among studies and years in estimates of aboveground biomass and NPP at a single site (Toolik Lake tussock tundra)(Epstein et al, 2000). The largest variation reflects whether nonvascular plants were included or excluded and the definition of live moss. Moss biomass varies... 

Moss, D.N. "Symposium Papers", Clean Fuels From Biomass and Wastes, Symposium sponsored by the Institute of Gas Technology, Orlando, Florida, 1977. Institute of Gas Technology Chicago, 1977. 

The amount of fallout radioactivity deposited on plant surfaces depends on the exposed surface area, the developmental season of the plants, and the external morphology. Mosses, which have a comparatively large surface area, showed highest concentrations of radiocesium. In northern Sweden, most of the radiocesium fallout was deposited on plant surfaces in the forest ecosystem and was readily incorporated into living systems because of browsing by herbivores and cesium s chemical similarity to potassium. In August 1992, the distribution of Cs fallout from Chernobyl in a Swedish forest was 87% in soils, 6% in the bryophyte layer, and 7% in standing biomass of trees ... 

The first example of this kind was the bananatrode, a CPE modified with banana tissue [170] containing phenol oxidase as a catalyst for the oxidation of dopamine (DOP, a neurotransmitter), followed by a similar construction some years later [171]. Another representative is a CP-biosensor with admixed yeast containing alcohol dehydrogenase that facilitates the determination of ethanol [172]. Some biomasses such as algae, lichens, or mosses then show quite a high affinity to some heavy and precious metals with the correspondingly modified electrodes (see [4, 5,33] and references therein). 

For oil spill cleanup, three types of methods have been applied physical methods such as skimming and use of sorbents chemical methods such as dispersion, in-situ burning, and the use of solidifiers and biological methods or bior ediation [78], The use of a sorbent is effective and practical, although a combination of various methods has usually been employed to achieve the most effective cleanup. Oil sorbents used and studied so far can be classified into three groups inorganic minerals such as perlite and vermiculite, organic synthetic materials such as poly(propylene) and poly(urethane), and biomass such as peat moss, kenaf, straw, and wood fibers. 

Hall DO, Barnard GW and Moss PA (1982) Biomass for energy in the developing countries, Oxford Pergamon. 

The plants, animals and micro-organisms in wetlands are generally adapted to survival in wet habitats. One example is the species of the moss Sphagnum which thrive in such waterlogged, nutrient-poor and acidic environments because of various adaptations. The accumulation of biomass occms because of this saturation which provides a medium that is imsuitable for decomposer organisms (detrivores, see Section 3.6.3). The medium is even more unfavourable if conditions are acidic. Thus the rate of breakdown of organic matter is lower than its rate of accumulation and so organic... 

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