Abstract
The Index of Atmospheric Purity (IAP) is a popular tool used for the assessment of air quality in polluted urban areas, on the basis of phytosociological data of epiphytic lichen communities. We hypothesized that this indicator could also be used in less polluted forest areas to determine the quality of ecological conditions for lichens. The aim of the present study was to verify the use of IAP method in the assessment of environmental pollution, and alternatively for the assessment of general ecological conditions in protected mountain forests of Gorce National Park (Polish Western Carpathians) based on the epiphytic lichen biota associated with Picea abies. The spatial distribution of IAP values on monitored sites in GNP was compared with: 1) spatial distribution of accumulated sulfur, nitrogen, selected heavy metals, and total heavy metals in Hypogymnia physodes thalli in 1993 and 2018 (30 sites), 2) mean ecological indicator values characterizing species requirements for light (L), substrate reaction (R) and nutrients (N), in 1993, 2013 and 2018 (33 sites). Generalized linear model and redundancy analysis were performed for disclosing most influencing factors affecting lichen communities. The study revealed a few negligible relationships between IAP values and accumulation of such elements as Ni, Mn, Cd, and Cr in both monitoring periods. Simultaneously, IAP can be useful for the identification of forest areas with a high degree of naturalness.
Highlights
Due to water and toxic elements absorption directly from the atmosphere, lichens are regarded as excellent bioindicators of air pollution (Gries 2008; Sujetovienė 2015; Will-Wolf et al 2015)
The aim of the present study was to verify the use of Index of Atmospheric Purity (IAP) method in the assessment of environmental pollution, and alternatively for the assessment of general ecological conditions in protected mountain forests of Gorce National Park (Polish Western Carpathians) based on the epiphytic lichen biota associated with Picea abies
Results of studies conducted in conurbations or near point sources of pollution usually confirm the legitimacy of using lichens in the bioindication of air pollution in these areas, for example those caused by sulfur dioxide (Białońska and Dayan 2005; Orlova et al 2015; Mateos and González 2016), nitrogen oxides (GaioOliveira et al 2005; Tretiach et al 2007; Mateos and González 2016) and heavy metals (Kularatne and De Freitas 2013; Parzych et al 2016)
Summary
Due to water and toxic elements absorption directly from the atmosphere, lichens are regarded as excellent bioindicators of air pollution (Gries 2008; Sujetovienė 2015; Will-Wolf et al 2015). For areas characterised by higher heterogeneity or degree of naturalness, the interpretation of an effect of urban and industrial pollutants on the environment is more complicated (Poikolainen et al 2000; Gombert et al 2004; Giordani 2007; Agnan et al 2017) This is caused by the synergistic or antagonistic effect of many ecological factors (e.g. climate, topography, habitat, anthropogenic impact) determining the sensitivity of individual lichen species to the same concentrations of harmful substances (e.g. Van Dobben et al 2001; Brunialti et al 2010; Liu et al 2016)
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