Bryophytes as regulatory ecosystem services providers in the urban landscape
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.22616/j.landarchart.2025.26.03Keywords:
regulatory ecosystem services, moss ecosystem services, moss systematization, mosses in landscape architecture, landscape architecture studentsAbstract
Human survival, health and well-being depend directly on ecosystem services or the benefits humans derive from ecosystems. Regulatory ecosystem services are essential to humans as they represent services that regulate the environment, such as climate, clean air and water availability, flood control, etc. Different plants provide ecosystem services in cities, but the authors focus on bryophytes (or mosses) in this article. Moss's ability to provide ecosystem services is represented broadly in the literature, but there is no systematized approach to view them. Therefore, the author's objective of the study is to develop systematization and answer the research question “What ecosystem services provided by mosses to the urban landscape should be included in the systematization of regulating ecosystem services?”. To answer the question, authors fulfilled such tasks as analyzing theoretical sources on the ecosystem services provided by mosses in urban landscapes; to develop a systematization of the regulating ecosystem services and benefits mosses provide to the urban landscape, using systemic analysis. After the execution of the analysis, regulatory ecosystem services provided by mosses were prepared in a systematization depicting interactions and implications. Identified ecosystem services provided by mosses that fulfil regulatory services are: improving air quality, photosynthesis of CO2 into oxygen, rainwater retention, heat island effect reduction, promoting biodiversity, reducing noise pollution, and the long-term impact of climate change. The research rationale is novel in its outcome, as there is a current gap in knowledge of a structured, systematized summary of regulatory ecosystem services provided by mosses. These finding carry both theoretical and practical value, as they can be used both for study purposes and enwidening view on ecosystem services and specific plants providing them; at the same time from practical perspective, this research brings a framework for policy makers, urban planners, and landscape architects on regulatory ecosystem services provided by mosses.
References
1. Anderson, M., Lambrinos, J., & Schroll, E. (2010). The potential value of mosses for stormwater management in urban environments. Urban Ecosystems, 13(3), 319–332. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-010-0121-z
2. Biloshchytskyi, A., Kuchanskyi, O., Andrashko, Y., Yedilkhan, D., Neftissov, A., Biloshchytska, S., … Vatskel, V. (2023). Reducing outdoor air pollutants through a moss-based biotechnological purification filter in Kazakhstan. Urban Science, 7(4), 104. https://doi.org/10.3390/urbansci7040104
3. Bolund, P., & Hunhammar, S. (1999). Ecosystem services in urban areas. Ecological Economics, 29(2), 293–301. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0921-8009(99)00013-0
4. Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa
5. Carleton, T. J., & Read, D. J. (1991). Ectomycorrhizas and nutrient transfer in conifer–feather moss ecosystems. Canadian Journal of Botany, 69(4), 778–785. https://doi.org/10.1139/b91-101
6. Corvalán, C., Hales, S., McMichael, A. J., Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, & World Health Organization. (2005). Ecosystems and human well-being: Health synthesis. World Health Organization.
7. Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2018). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approach (5th ed.). SAGE Publications.
8. Daily, G. C. (1997). Introduction: What are ecosystem services? In G. C. Daily (Ed.), Nature's services: Societal dependence on natural ecosystems (pp. 1–10). Island Press.
9. Eldridge, D. J., Guirado, E., Reich, P. B., Ochoa-Hueso, R., Berdugo, M., Sáez-Sandino, T., … Delgado-Baquerizo, M. (2023). The global contribution of soil mosses to ecosystem services. Nature Geoscience, 16(5), 430–438. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-023-01170-x
10. Ervin, D. E., Brown, D., Chang, H., Dujon, V., Granek, E. F., Shandas, V., … Yeakley, A. (2012). Growing cities depend on their ecosystem services. Solutions, 2, 74–86.
11. Flick, U. (2018). An introduction to qualitative research. American Journal of Industrial and Business Management.
12. Gall, C., Nebel, M., Scholten, T., Thielen, S. M., & Seitz, S. (2024). Water’s path from moss to soil vol. 2: How soil–moss combinations affect soil water fluxes and soil loss in a temperate forest. Biologia. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11756-024-01666-w
13. Guba, E. G., & Lincoln, Y. S. (1989). Fourth generation evaluation. SAGE Publications.
14. Haynes, A., Popek, R., Boles, M., Paton-Walsh, C., & Robinson, S. A. (2019). Roadside moss turf in South East Australia captures more particulate matter along an urban gradient than a common native tree species. Atmosphere, 10(4), 224. https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos10040224
15. Kārkliņa, J., Kārkliņš, E., Ābele, L., & Strazdiņa, L. (2024). Bryophytes for the linear barrier as a PM2.5 mitigation technology in the urban landscape. Landscape architecture and Art, 24(24), 45–50. https://doi.org/10.22616/j.landarchart.2024.24.06
16. Kārkliņa, J., Kārkliņš, E., Ābele, L., Renard, J.-B., & Strazdiņa, L. (2025). Atmospheric pollution particulate matter absorption efficiency by bryophytes in laboratory conditions. Atmosphere, 16(4), 479. https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos16040479
17. Kronenberg, J. (2015). Why not to green a city? Institutional barriers to preserving urban ecosystem services. Ecosystem Services, 12, 218–227. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoser.2014.07.002
18. Lueth, V. M., & Reski, R. (2023). Mosses. Current Biology, 33(22). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2023.09.042
19. Norgaard, R. B. (2010). Ecosystem services: From eye-opening metaphor to complexity blinder. Ecological Economics, 69(6), 1219–1227. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2009.11.009
20. Martin, A. (2015). The magical world of moss gardening. Timber Press.
21. Marsaglia, V., Brusa, G., & Paoletti, I. (2023). Moss as a multifunctional material for technological greenery systems. The Plan Journal, 8(1). https://doi.org/10.15274/tpj.2023.08.01.3
22. Mayring, P. (2014). Qualitative content analysis: Theoretical foundation, basic procedures and software solution.
23. McHale, E. (2020). 7 interesting things about moss. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. https://www.kew.org/read-and-watch/moss
24. Miles, M. B., Huberman, A. M., & Saldaña, J. (2019). Qualitative data analysis: A methods sourcebook (3rd ed.). SAGE Publications.
25. Mohanasundaram, B., Koley, S., Allen, D. K., & Pandey, S. (2023). Physcomitrium patens response to elevated CO₂ is flexible and determined by an interaction between sugar and nitrogen availability. New Phytologist, 241(3), 1222–1235. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.19348
26. Nagase, A., Katagiri, T., & Lundholm, J. (2023). Investigation of moss species selection and substrate for extensive green roofs. Ecological Engineering, 189, 106899. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoleng.2023.106899
27. Perini, K., Castellari, P., Giachetta, A., Turcato, C., & Roccotiello, E. (2020). Experiencing innovative biomaterial for buildings: Potentialities of mosses. Building and Environment, 172, 106708. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2020.106708
28. Perini, K., Castellari, P., Gisotti, D., Giachetta, A., Turcato, C., & Roccotiello, E. (2022). MosSkin: A moss-based lightweight building system. Building and Environment, 221, 109283. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2022.109283
29. Reid, W. V., Mooney, H. A., Cropper, A., & Chopra, K. (2005). Millennium Ecosystem Assessment: Ecosystems and human well-being: Synthesis. Island Press.
30. Ritchie, H., Samborska, V., & Roser, M. (2025). Urbanization. Our World in Data. https://ourworldindata.org/urbanizationOur World in Data+1Our World in Data+1
31. Sleinus, D., Sinka, M., Korjakins, A., Obuka, V., Nikolajeva, V., Brencis, R., & Savicka, E. (2023). Properties of sound absorption composite materials developed using flax fiber, sphagnum moss, vermiculite, and sapropel. Materials, 16(3), 1060. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma16031060
32. Strazdiņa, L., Liepiņa, L., Mežaka, A., & Madžule, L. (2012). Moss Guide. University of Latvia.
33. Stuiver, B. M., Wardle, D. A., Gundale, M. J., & Nilsson, M. C. (2014). The impact of moss species and biomass on the growth of Pinus sylvestris tree seedlings at different precipitation frequencies. Forests, 5(8), 1931–1951. https://doi.org/10.3390/f5081931
34. Šneiderienė, A., Viederytė, R., & Ābele, L. (2020). Green growth assessment discourse on evaluation indices in the European Union. Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Issues, 8(2), 360–369. https://doi.org/10.9770/jesi.2020.8.2(21)
35. Turetsky, M. R., Bond-Lamberty, B., Euskirchen, E. S., Talbot, J., Frolking, S., McGuire, A. D., & Tuittila, E.-S. (2012). The resilience and functional role of moss in boreal and arctic ecosystems. New Phytologist, 196(1), 49–67. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8137.2012.04254.x
36. Yin, H., Perera-Castro, A., Randall, K., Turnbull, J. D., Waterman, M. J., Dunn, J. W., & Robinson, S. A. (2023). Basking in the sun: How mosses photosynthesize and survive in Antarctica. Photosynthesis Research. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11120-023-01040-y
37. Zhuo, L., Liang, Y., Yang, H., Li, X., Zhang, Y., Zhang, Y., … Zhang, D. (2020). Thermal tolerance of dried shoots of the moss Bryum argenteum. Journal of Thermal Biology, 89, 102469. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtherbio.2019.102469
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Landscape Architecture and Art
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
