1. New Interpretative Scales for Lichen Bioaccumulation Data: The Italian Proposal
- Author
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Luca Di Nuzzo, Paolo Giordani, Tania Contardo, Juri Nascimbene, Silvana Munzi, Luca Paoli, Elisabetta Bianchi, Giorgio Brunialti, Elva Cecconi, Fabrizio Monaci, Mauro Tretiach, Luisa Frati, Sonia Ravera, Andrea Vannini, Stefano Loppi, Renato Benesperi, Lorenzo Fortuna, Cecconi, Elva, Fortuna, Lorenzo, Benesperi, Renato, Bianchi, Elisabetta, Brunialti, Giorgio, Contardo, Tania, Di Nuzzo, Luca, Frati, Luisa, Monaci, Fabrizio, Munzi, Silvana, Nascimbene, Juri, Paoli, Luca, Ravera, Sonia, Vannini, Andrea, Giordani, Paolo, Loppi, Stefano, Tretiach, Mauro, Cecconi E., Fortuna L., Benesperi R., Bianchi E., Brunialti G., Contardo T., Nuzzo L.D., Frati L., Monaci F., Munzi S., Nascimbene J., Paoli L., Ravera S., Vannini A., Giordani P., Loppi S., Tretiach M., and Di Nuzzo L. .
- Subjects
Pseudevernia furfuracea ,Pollution ,Background level ,Atmospheric Science ,010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences ,media_common.quotation_subject ,air pollution ,Evernia prunastri ,trace elements ,Air pollution ,Background levels ,Biomonitoring ,Flavoparmelia caperata ,Lichen transplants ,Native lichens ,Trace elements ,Xanthoria parietina ,Environmental Science (miscellaneous) ,native lichens ,lcsh:QC851-999 ,010501 environmental sciences ,01 natural sciences ,native lichen ,Native lichen ,Lichen ,0105 earth and related environmental sciences ,media_common ,biology ,lichen transplants, air pollution ,background levels ,trace element ,biology.organism_classification ,background level ,Lichen transplant ,lichen transplants ,Bioaccumulation ,Trace element ,Environmental science ,lcsh:Meteorology. Climatology ,Physical geography - Abstract
The interpretation of lichen bioaccumulation data is of paramount importance in environmental forensics and decision-making processes. By implementing basic ideas underlying previous interpretative scales, new dimensionless, species-independent &ldquo, bioaccumulation scales&rdquo, for native and transplanted lichens are proposed. Methodologically consistent element concentration datasets were populated with data from biomonitoring studies relying on native and transplanted lichens. The scale for native lichens was built up by analyzing the distribution of ratios between element concentration data and species-specific background concentration references (B ratios), herein provided for Flavoparmelia caperata and Xanthoria parietina (foliose lichens). The scale for transplants was built up by analyzing the distribution of ratios between element concentration in exposed and unexposed samples (EU ratio) of Evernia prunastri and Pseudevernia furfuracea (fruticose lichens). Both scales consist of five percentile-based classes, namely, &ldquo, Absence of&rdquo, &ldquo, Low&rdquo, Moderate&rdquo, High&rdquo, and &ldquo, Severe&rdquo, bioaccumulation. A comparative analysis of extant interpretative tools showed that previous ones for native lichens suffered from the obsolescence of source data, whereas the previous expert-assessed scale for transplants failed in describing noticeable element concentration variations. The new scales, based on the concept that pollution can be quantified by dimensionless ratios between experimental and benchmark values, overcome most critical points affecting the previous scales.
- Published
- 2019