Search

Although small bags containing living or dead moss or lichens are widely used to monitor persistent atmospheric pollutants in urban and industrial environments, uptake mechanisms and the reliability of this approach have been scarcely investigated. Shoots of the moss Hypnum cupressiforme Hedw. and lobes of the lichen Pseudevernia furfuracea (L.) Zopf from unpolluted areas were pre-treated by: 1) water washing (WL, WM); 2), oven drying at 120 °C for 24 h (OL, OM); 3) HNO3 washing (AL, AM); 4) NH4-oxalate extraction at 85 °C for 15 h (OLoxa, OMoxa, ALoxa, AMoxa). Four bags with 500 mg of each material were exposed for six weeks in Trieste and Naples (Italy) on the roof of automatic devices for continuous recording of NOx, SO2, CO, PM10, and climatic data. Two synthetic materials (A: quartz fibre filter Whatman QMA 1851047; B: cation-exchange filter Pall ICE 450) were exposed in the same conditions to compare uptake processes and accumulation capacity with bio-materials. 15 elements were analysed before and after exposure. CO2 gaseous exchange, chlorophyll fluorescence, chlorophyll content, and K, Ca and Mg intra- and extra-cellular distribution assessed in WL and WM. Results demonstrate that WM vitality was drastically reduced after the exposure in both sites, whereas WL vitality was mostly unmodified as shown by increased C and N content at levels reflecting CO and NOx pollution. Average concentrations (µg g-1 dry wt) of trace metals increased significantly in all materials and were scarcely influenced by the vitality or type of pre-treatment, although concentrations were always higher in moss shoots than in lichen lobes. For a reliable comparison between synthetic and biological materials, the specific surface area was estimated and concentrations expressed as ng cm-2. This resulted in similar concentrations in moss shoots and lichen lobes but significantly lower concentrations in synthetic materials. Passive capture of airborne particulate matter accounted for most of the metal uptake.

This work provides an overview of the ecology of all bipartite cyanolichens of Italy, exploring the relationships between ecological factors and species traits. A matrix of 205 species and several ecological descriptors was subjected to multivariate analyses (classification and ordination). Six groups of species with similar ecology were delimited, arranged along a gradient of decreasing aridity and light intensity, from extreme dry habitats on sunny calcareous rocks to very humid and shaded habitats on tree bark. The relationships between ecological species groups and traits were assessed by Principal Component Analysis, carried out on a matrix of ecological species groups and percent occurrences of 11 morpho-biological traits in each group. Along the gradient from arid to humid environments, and from more primeval substrata (rocks, mineral soils) to more recent ones (organic soils, tree bark), morphologically simpler, sexually reproducing cyanolichens are gradually replaced by more complex, often asexual species, which suggests that the current ecology of cyanolichens may retain a phylogenetic signal, indicative of the evolutionary footprint in species adaptation processes.

In this contribution, new data concerning algae, bryophytes, fungi, and lichens of the Italian flora are presented. It includes new records and confirmations for the algae genusChara, the bryophyte generaHomalia,Mannia, andTortella, the fungal generaCortinarius,Russula, andStereum, and the lichen generaCetrelia,Cladonia,Enterographa,Graphis,Lecanora,Lepraria,Multiclavula,Mycomicrothelia,Parmelia,Peltigera,Pleopsidium,Psora,Scytinium,Umbilicaria, andRhizocarpon.

In this contribution, new data concerning algae, bryophytes, fungi, and lichens of the Italian flora are presented. It includes new records and confirmations for the algae genusChara, the bryophyte generaCephalozia,Conardia,Conocephalum,Didymodon,Sphagnum,Tetraplodon, andTortula, the fungal generaEndophyllum,Gymnosporangium,Microbotryum,Phragmidium, andPluteus, and the lichen generaCandelariella,Cladonia,Flavoplaca,Lichenothelia,Peltigera,Placolecis,Rinodina,Scytinium, andSolenopsora.

An ecological biogeographical perspective provides an understanding of the factors that shape the geographical distribution of organisms, their biodiversity and ecological speciation. Focusing on members of the lichen genus Solenopsora, which are strongly linked to a Mediterranean-type climate, we aimed to depict their environmental niches in the Apennine Peninsula. This area represents their ecological optima, as well as the biogeographical centre of distribution. On the basis of occurrences of Solenopsora congeners, we identified the key ecological factors that shape their environmental niches. Applying an ensemble approach, which merges the results of Random Forest, GLM and MaxEnt algorithms, suitability maps were developed. These are mainly influenced by geological substratum, temperature and precipitation. Occurrence of Solenopsora taxa seems to be mainly governed by low variability in diurnal temperature and tolerance to dryness, with precipitation in the range of 0–20 mm in the driest month and a minimum temperature of >5 °C in the coldest month. The sensitivity to diurnal temperature, an important indicator for climate change, suggests that the taxa confined to Mediterranean bioclimatic types (i.e. Solenopsora grisea, S. marina, S. olivacea subsp. olbiensis and S. olivacea subsp. olivacea) might be good indicators of climatic stability. The geological substratum was a strong limiting factor and separated the taxa into three groups: those growing on calcareous, siliceous and ultramafic substrata. Limited co-occurrence of species confined to one of the three categories suggests that the level of niche differentiation is on a microhabitat level. Accounting for ecological requirements, the taxa differ in their tolerance to sub-optimal conditions. The ecological niches of a sister subspecies pair with different reproduction strategies, fertile S. olivacea subsp. olivacea and sorediate S. olivacea subsp. olbiensis, overlap strongly. However, habitat suitability for S. olivacea subsp. olbiensis is greater in areas with higher precipitation in the driest month, whereas S. olivacea subsp. olivacea is more restricted to warmer and drier areas. We also report new regional records for Italy and the first records of S. cesatii in Serbia and Ukraine, and of S. liparina in Serbia.

Digital data concerning the flora of Italy are largely fragmented among different resources hosted on different platforms, and often with different data standards, which are neither connected by a common access point, nor by web services, thus constituting a relevant obstacle to data access and usage. Taxonomic incongruences add a further complication. This paper describes “FlorItaly”, an online information system which allows to access and query updated information on the checklist of the flora of Italy, aiming at becoming an aggregator for Italian botanical resources. “FlorItaly” was developed in a collaborative effort by more than 50 taxonomists, with the support of the Italian Botanical Society, and of Project “Dryades” (University of Trieste), to provide a better and reliable organization of botanical knowledge in Italy, as well as a relevant simplification for data retrieval, and a further stimulus towards a more collaborative approach in botanical research.

In this contribution, new data concerning bryophytes, fungi, and lichens of the Italian flora are presented. It includes new records and confirmations for the bryophyte genera Encalypta, Grimmia, and Riccia, for the fungal genera Hericium, Inocybe, Inocutis, Pluteus, and Russula, and for the lichen genera Bryoria, Farnoldia, Hypocenomyce, Lecania, Paracollema, Peltigera, Sarcogyne, and Teloschistes.

A citizen science initiative was launched in the province of Trieste, aimed at mapping the distribution of Ailanthus altissima, Ambrosia artemisiifolia and Senecio inaequidens. The reliability of citizen data was tested against control data obtained by trained personnel with a stratified random sampling. In spite of the lack of a strict sampling strategy, citizen data were highly correlated with control data. This was mainly due to: 1) the easy identification of the species and 2) the instructions given to citizens for selecting their observation areas and for avoiding duplicate records. The three species tend to be most frequent in disturbed areas; Ailanthus is highly concentrated in the urban area, Senecio is widely distributed but avoids the city centre, with the highest frequency in the industrial area and along the railways, Ambrosia has a similar pattern, but is most frequent in areas with calcareous substrata. The interpretation of the distribution patterns in terms of land use and ecological factors proved to be quite easy when the three species are considered together (higher frequency in disturbed areas), less so when they are considered separately, most probably because of historical and sociological factors, such as incomplete migration into the survey area, and "gentrification effects".

Species distribution models (SDMs) have been extensively used for a variety of purposes, including investigation of taxonomic problems, together with molecular, chemical and morphological analysis. The two varieties of the lichen Squamarina cartilaginea known to occur in Italy (var. cartilaginea and var. pseudocrassa), which are morphologically indistinguishable, can be identified only by a medullar chemical spot test. In this paper, SDMs are used to support the separation of these two varieties, to determine whether they are also characterized by a differential spatial distribution. Occurrence data were obtained by geo-referencing a posteriori 114 herbarium specimens identified to variety level by a medullar spot test. The spatial distribution was modeled by using Random Forest (RF) and Generalized Linear Models. Suitability areas were obtained by applying the 0% omission error criterion in the probability map produced by RF, which proved to be the more statistically reliable of the two methods. Kendall's tau statistic test applied to RF suitability maps indicates that the two varieties tend to segregate ecologically in the Italian peninsula. Var. pseudocrassa appears to be more widespread in the Mediterranean region, as well as in coastal and hilly areas, while var. cartilaginea is more abundant in the temperate region and mountainous areas. For both varieties the spatial distribution is determined by similar climatic variables (mean yearly temperature, mean temperature of the coldest month and summer precipitation). These findings lead to a new hypothesis on the role of these environmental factors on the evolutionary history and geographical distribution of the two varieties. This study also corroborates the usefulness of SDMs in delimiting taxonomical entities. © 2014 Elsevier GmbH.

To define a harmonized methodology for the use of moss and lichen bags as active monitoring devices of airborne trace elements in urban areas, we evaluated the element accumulation in bags exposed in Naples in different spring weather conditions for 6- and 12-weeks. Three different pre-exposure treatments were applied to moss and lichen materials: water-washing, acid-washing and oven-drying. During the different exposure periods in the Naples urban environment the moss accumulated always higher amounts of elements (except Hg) than lichens and the element accumulation increased during wetter weather and higher PM(10) conditions. The oven pre-treatment did not substantially modify the morphology and element composition of moss and the exposure in bags of this material for 6-weeks was sufficient to detect the pattern of airborne trace elements.

To enhance the reliability of the moss and lichen transplant technique for active biomonitoring of trace metals in urban environments, we evaluated the natural variability in the chemical composition of the (epilithic and epiphytic) moss Hypnum cupressiforme and the epiphytic lichen Pseudevernia furfuracea from two reference areas in NE Italy. Green shoots of epilithic mosses and lobes of epiphytic lichens from larch branches showed rather homogenous composition and were selected for the exposure in nylon bags. As different physico-chemical pre-treatments are usually applied to selected cryptogamic material before its exposure, we also evaluated the effects of oven-drying at 120 °C for 24 h, washing in 1 N HNO 3 solution, and in 0.5% NH 4 oxalate solution at 85 °C for 15 h on the chemical composition and morphology of water-washed moss shoots and lichen lobes. Pre-treatments remarkably changed the chemical composition of selected materials but not their surface morphology.

Lobes of the lichen Pseudevernia furfuracea (L.) Zopf and shoots of the moss Hypnum cupressiforme Hedw. were subjected to different treatments (water washing, oven drying, HNO3 washing, NH4-oxalate extraction) to assess the influence of vitality on accumulation efficiency, during a 6-week exposure in bags in two Italian cities, Trieste and Naples. No trend emerged between treatments, in terms of accumulation ability, for major and trace elements. Only water-washed lichens showed an increased C and N content after exposure in both cities. Element concentrations generally reached higher values in mosses than in lichens, especially for Al, Fe, and Zn (both cities), and for Cu, Mg and Na (Naples). Surface development strongly influenced accumulation capacity of the biomonitors. Quartzose and cation exchange filters revealed, on a weight basis, a poor performance. In urban environments, surface interception of atmospheric particulate seems to play a major role in accumulation, irrespective of organism vitality.