Preliminary indications of water‐quality‐related trace‐element signals in aquatic moss balls from a Patagonian lake

Abstract

Naturally formed aquatic moss balls from Laguna Parrillar, Chilean Patagonia, have been described as a bryological phenomenon, but their elemental composition has not been evaluated. This technical note provides an initial characterization of their whole‐aggregate trace‐element signal. Ninety moss balls were collected from the same shoreline section in 2022–2024, and concentrations of 17 elements were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Data were evaluated using univariate and multivariate analyses. Fe, Al, and Mn dominated the elemental profile, whereas Hg, Mo, and Cd had the lowest median concentrations. Eleven elements differed among years, but their changes did not follow a common temporal direction. The first two principal components explained 53.4% of total variance, and sampling year accounted for 13.2% of multielement variation. The Al–Fe relationship and positive loadings of Al, Cr, Pb, and Fe were consistent with a substantial mineral or particulate contribution. These initial observations indicate that naturally formed moss balls retain measurable, structured, and interannually variable elemental profiles that may provide preliminary information relevant to water‐quality assessment. However, the whole‐aggregate signal combines biological and particulate components and cannot yet be interpreted as a measure of water quality. Paired analyses of water, sediment, retained particles, shoreline material, and cleaned moss tissue are required before monitoring applications can be assessed.