Moss is the first plant on earth, which has been on earth for 450 million years. Living through all the climate changes, mosses developed powerful survival mechanisms. Mosses have a fascinating ability to grow on a variety of soils that are unsuitable for any other plant, such as on ash after a forest fire, the Funaria hygrometrica moss species is the first to restore the ecosystem after forest fires. Despite their small size, mosses make up a significant proportion of the world's plant biomass. Mosses are found everywhere in the world, on every continent from the desert to the arctic. Species that grow, for example, in Europe also grow elsewhere in the world, for example in Asia or America (source)
Why moss?
Natural benefits of moss
Cleaner air
Moss is a unique plant known for its capacity to achieve high levels of air purification, especially under conditions of stable temperature and humidity (source)
Soil health
Mosses play a vital role in rainwater retention, reducing plant pathogens and increasing soil carbon sequestration, improving overall soil health (source)
Viability
Studies have shown that the lowest temperature moss can photosynthesize (turn sunlight energy into food) is around -15ºC and the highest is around 40ºC. Some mosses are known to withstand temperatures as high as 100ºC and as low as -272ºC when desiccated (source)
Unique moss
Mosses have no roots and take up most of their nutrients from (wet and dry) precipitation. They are able to accumulate potentially toxic elements for a long time to very high concentrations, determined by moss species. The concentration of potentially toxic elements in exposed moss samples results from two basic processes, i.e. dust retention on the plant surface and uptake of substances in their ionic form. With regard to dry deposition, potentially toxic elements remain practically inactive and are absorbed mechanically. However, when high concentrations of acidifying gases and precipitation occur simultaneously, the bioaccumulation of potentially toxic elemental forms of more easily soluble ions increases (source)