We collected three kinds of tundra plants including Dicranum angustum, Puccinellia phryganodes and Salix polaris each on total 12 different sites from a coal-mining gradient profile in Ny-lesund (78°55′N, 11°56′E), Arctic. At the same time, the soil on the profile was also collected. The concentrations of 10 heavy metal elements (Hg, Pb, Cd, Cu, Zn, Ni, Fe, Mn, As, Se) , S and TOC were analyzed in our lab. The results showed that the modern pollution source of Hg, Cd and S in Ny-lesund is the local human's coal-mining activities. The tundra plant Dicranum angustum has the highest ability in absorbing heavy metal elements. The content of heavy metal elements in Dicranum angustum in mining area is much higher than that in non-mining area, which also suggests the pollutant source is mostly derived from coal-mining. Meanwhile, we have compared the distribution rule of these elements between plant Dicranum angustum and soil and found that, as a whole, the variation trend of them on the profile is quite similar, which showes the tundra plant Dicranum angustum can record the environmet conditions very well. So maybe Dicranum angustum can be chosen as bio-indicator for contamination in Ny-lesund. Comparing from other areas in the world, we found that the level of pollutants of Hg, Cd, S in Ny-lesund is lower than that in developed countries in Northern European, but is the highest in Arctic, and higher than that in Antarctic.
