Author(s)

G.B. Wiersma, J.B. Wiersma & J.S. Elvir

Abstract

Tourist use and moss contamination at Torres del Paine National Park, Chile G.B. Wiersma, J.B. Wiersma & J.A. Elvir Department of Forest Ecosystem Science, University of Maine U.S.A. Abstract Lead (Pb) contamination in mosses at Torres del Paine National Park in Chile was examined using data from samples collected in 1984, 1985, 1988, 1997 and 2001. Due to its remote location and protected status, Torres del Paine remains one of the last ecosystems in the world with the minimum anthropogenic influence, providing one of the most suitable environments for studying natural processes. Monitoring sites were established in 1983 as part of a global network of baseline environment monitoring sites and were located in the unique Nothofagus pumilio forest ecosystems. Atmospheric samples collected in the park in 1983 showed some of the lowest pollutant loadings recorded on the planet. Only atmospheric samples reported from Antarctica have lower concentrations than those reported in the atmospheric samplin

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