Search

Current strategies for conservation reportedly suffer from an inadequate awareness of the drivers affecting lichen diversity, pointing to the need to fully develop a functional approach to lichen ecology. This study is an attempt to detect the drivers affecting functional diversity in the lichen flora of a volcanic Mediterranean area. Data on epiphytic lichen distribution were correlated with information coming from a GIS analysis. Species richness, functional diversity and indicator values of lichens species were analyzed as a function of altitude, bioclimatic patterns and land use patterns. Both taxonomic and functional diversity were found to increase with altitude, peaking at 600 m a.s.l. and slightly decreasing at higher elevations. A filtering effect of altitude on lichen growth-forms was detected at increasing altitude, with foliose isidiate lichens replacing crustose lichens with sexual reproduction, cyanobacteria replacing Trentepohlia as photobiont, and oligotrophic species linked to partially shaded environments gradually replacing species indicating eutrophic conditions. Forest stations impacted by low impact traditional agriculture tended to express higher lichen diversity compared to either undisturbed broadleaved forests or intensive orchards. These data demonstrate the need to integrate traditional low-impact agricultural practices in protected areas. Moreover, they provide the evidence that reanalyzing past and recent lichenological censuses with the proposed analytical tools may help previewing and driving the evolution of endangered ecosystems.

In this study, a biomonitoring project using the moss Scorpiurum circinatum was carried out to evaluate the deposition and biological effects of heavy metals in the area of Acerra (Naples, S Italy), one of the vertices of the sadly called ‘‘Italian triangle of death’’ owing to the dramatic increase in tumours. The results clearly indicated that the study area is heavily polluted by heavy metals, a large proportion of which is likely present in the atmosphere in particulate form. The ultrastructural organization of exposed samples was essentially preserved, but cell membrane pits, cytoplasm vesicles and concentric multilamellar/ multivesicular bodies, probably induced by pollution, were found, which may be involved in the tolerance mechanisms to metal pollution in this moss species. Although severe biological effects were not found at the ultrastructural level in the exposed moss, effects on humans, especially after long-term exposure, are to be expected

This study compared the heavy metal bioaccumulation capacity in the epiphytic moss Scorpiurum circinatum and the epiphytic lichen Pseudevernia furfuracea, exposed in bags for 3 months in the urban area of Acerra (S Italy). The content of Al, As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Ti, V, and Zn was measured by ICP-MS. The results showed that both species accumulated all the heavy metals assayed. The moss had the highest bioaccumulation capacity for all metals and showed a more constant and linear accumulation trend than the lichen. Intra-tissue heavy metal bioaccumulation was assessed by X-ray microanalysis applied to ESEM operated in high and low vacuum and ESEM modes.

Translocation processes between the inner and outer rings of lichen thalli, as well as between lichens and bark substratum, induce zonation patterns, with a dynamic stratification of pollution history memory which is often affected by the intensity of the atmospheric events. Two experiments of passive biomonitoring are presented, aimed to measure metal concentrations and zonation patterns in lichens and bark, before and after raining events or after a water sprinkling treatment. Ten elements were monitored in the lichen Physcia biziana (Massal.) Zahlbr. v. leptophylla Ve˘zda in a moderately polluted area of Campania region (Italy). Element concentrations changed with lichen age, with generally higher concentrations in the older than the younger tissues. Rain and sprinkling had differential effects on lichen and bark: a significant decrease of the overall concentrations was observed after rain in bark, whereas a slight increase was observed in lichen thalli; however, when lichen thalli were just rehydrated...

Total concentrations of Cd, Cr, Fe, Ni, Pb and Zn were compared from October 1996 to April 1998 in Physcia biziana (Massal.) Zhalbr. v. leptophylla Vezda and in the bark of Quercus ilex L. sampled from the same trees at an urban park. Trace metal concentrations were also measured in the bark covered by the lichen thalli. The lichens showed significantly higher Cr, Fe, Ni and Zn concentrations than both uncovered and covered barks. By contrast, both types of barks had higher concentrations of Cd and Pb than lichens. Trace elements showed a wide temporal variation of concentrations both in the lichens and barks. No relationship was found between the analysed matrices as regards the time course of trace element concentrations.

Bio-monitoring of air pollution, i.e. monitoring environmental pollution through the use of living organisms (Nimis & Skert, 1999), may be based either on the tendency of some organism to accumulate pollutants in their tissues (bio-accumulation) or on the changes that occur in the composition of animal and plant communities after exposure to pollutants (bioindication). Compared to instrumental monitoring, the use of bio-monitors allows to measure as a whole the global effect that abiotic and biotic factors exert on biota, what is not possible by just analyzing the concentrations of single selected pollutants in the environment. Bio-monitoring provides useful information about the global conditions affecting the environment over a given area. Of course it should not be considered as a substitute of instrumental monitoring, but rather, a necessary complement of it. It may also be suited to screen areas subjected to any risk of contamination, so helping to plan landscape policies and to set land nets of air quality (ANPA, 2001). Bio-monitoring of air pollutants can be passive or active. Passive methods observe organisms growing naturally within the area of interest. Active methods detect the presence of air pollutants by placing test organisms of known response and genotype into the study area (Szczepaniak & Biziuk, 2003). In this study, lichen distribution was examined in a district of Campania region to monitor the evolution of air quality at landscape scale. A new methodological approach was tried by overlapping the results of bio-monitoring samplings to land cover maps, in order to highlight the relations between air pollution and land use patterns (Pinho et al., 2004; Paoli et al., 2006; Pinho et al., 2008). The main objectives of this work were the following: to evaluate air quality on the studied area with the aid of IBL index, and reporting geo-referenced data on a thematic map; to relate lichen distribution and biodiversity to land use spatial patterns; to put the basis for a comparative analysis focused on changes induced by the present socio-economic evolution of the plain, from agriculture to industrial and tertiary; to provide a reproducible protocol for monitoring air quality, identifying clusters of lichen species linked to particular land use models and formulating previsions about environmental quality on areas characterized by similar dynamics. measuring lichen biodiversity through the IBL index allowed us to characterize the state of environment on the studied area. This method put the basis for a wider study on the dynamic evolution of a district interested by a process of industrial reconversion very close to a natural reserve. A good responsiveness of statistical clustering towards geo-statistical features of lands was found, confirming the reliability of IBL index as an indicator of environmental quality has been confirmed by statistical clustering towards geostatistical features of LC/LU (Land cover/Land Use). Moreover, the arrangement of lichen species is indicative not only of the environmental quality on a local scale, but also of the complex set of variables related to land use patterns at landscape level.

We compared the capacity to accumulate airborne heavy metals of two lichens (Flavoparmelia caperata and Parmotrema chinense) and one higher plant (Nerium oleander) at a very densely populated urban site near Naples. After 15, 45, 75, and 120 days of exposure at four sites with different levels of air pollution, equal portions of thalli and 20 leaves were collected, and four environmentally significant elements, Fe, Cu, Zn, and Pb, were measured by inductively coupled plasma analysis. To compare the accumulation rates of lichens and the vascular plant, we determined an index of relative accumulation rate of pollutants during time and the ratio between the concentrations of each element in exposed samples to that of control samples (exposed-to-control ratio). Our data indicate F. caperata as being the most suitable bioaccumulator, followed by P. chinense. N. oleander was also found to be a useful heavy metal biomonitor though not suitable as a bioaccumulator.