Species Composition of the Lichen Biota in Industrially Polluted Territories of Leninsky District of Irkutsk

In the context of the development of infrastructure in Siberian cities, the issues of the state of the areas with accumulated environmental damage is especially relevant. It is mentioned in the article that lichen indication is an efficient method of passive monitoring of environment for industrial pollutants caused by morphological changes occurring in sensitive objects. The results of the lichen floristic research of Leninsky district of Irkutsk are presented, a list of revealed lichens including 9 genera and 12 species is given, a taxonomic list of this area is discussed. Lichenological objects were mapped. Distribution of lichens in the area of research is investigated with regard to the presence of recreational and residential zones. The authors draw a conclusion about the presence of «lichens deserts» which are caused both by the absence of the respective substratum and high concentration of pollutants. High concentration of pollutants is caused by complex influence of different enterprises on the quality of air.

Изучение степени загрязнения атмосферного воздуха Грязинского района Липецкой области методом лихеноиндикации

The article presents an assessment and analysis of the ecological state of atmospheric air in 7 districts of the city of Gryazi, Lipetsk region, by the method of lichen-indication. In most of the studied areas, a tendency to degradation of epiphytic lichenoflora was revealed as the anthropogenic impact increased, which was expressed in the depletion of the species composition and a decrease in the area of the projective cover of lichens. The index of atmospheric purity IAQ in areas of the study varies significantly, which is associated with a different degree of anthropogenic load. The highest index of atmospheric purity IAQ was recorded in the Oak Grove district, the lowest, in the area of Borisoglebskaya and Astrakhan streets, and the average index was typical for the rest of the district. The result obtained can be used as a basis for biomonitoring the territory of the city of Mud.

Multinominal bioindication for the evaluation of urban environment condition – case study of the city of Kherson

The urban environment is one of the most complicated man made systems, which condition and status are hard to define, but it is essential for the survival of humans. Among the methods of the urban environment condition evaluation bioindication is one of the most simple and able to provide valuable dose-response information for efficient management of environmental safety. Being such a useful method, the bioindication has a range of disadvantages, due to dependence on single species response, which can lie within the acceptable amplitude of living fluctuations or is conditioned by factors other than human activity. Most of the researches of such type stick to one single species and attempt to build clear impact-response dependencies for specific conditions. The paper considers the possibility to combine bioindicators from different taxonomic groups in one study to receive more reliable vision of the environment status. The typical combination offered in the study is phytoindication and lichen indication, which relies on measuring plants morphological parameters and lichen diversity and distribution. The research was conducted in the city of Kherson, previously considered relatively unpolluted. The territory of the city was analyzed to define the most affecting sources of environment pollution. The background area was chosen to verify the changes in the parameters of bioindicators. The results showed that the level of anthropogenic pressure within the urban territory is considerable and demands mitigation actions, aimed at improvement of air pollution control, waste management, traffic organization and implementation of remediation activities at decommissioned facilities. The deviations between the results of lichen indication and phytoindication gave possibility to infer the possible sources and composition of pollution, thus providing basis for efficient environment protection solutions to be implemented. The paper also presents the recommendations on the combination of bioindicators to be used in various studies, depending on the purpose and type of the ecosystem under investigation. The sequence of the data processing must include the comparative analysis of the information obtained to use the differences between the results provided by different organisms for clarification of the human impacts parameters.

Lichens as indicators of atmospheric pollution in urban ecosystems

Modern methods of lichen indication allow assessing the impact of climate change and air pollution on ecosystem health. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the general state of atmospheric air in urban ecosystems of cities and towns using lichen indication methods. The objectives of the study included identifying lichen indicator species, as well as assessing the response of these species to various pollutants (e.g., lead, iron, manganese). The study was conducted in 2017 in the Bryansk region of the Russian Federation (9 settlements in total) and the Oryol region (1 settlement – the city of Oryol). Four hundred samples belonging to epiphytic lichens were collected. Additional 300 and 137 samples of epiphytic lichens were used for chemical and toxicological analyses, respectively. The following two generally accepted lichen indicator indices were calculated: poleotolerance index (PI) and atmospheric purity index (API). When calculating the latter, the lichen species Xanthoria parietina was used as the baseline. Epiphytic lichens in small settlements were represented by 50 species (28 genera, 8 families). In large cities, 55 (Bryansk) and 53 (Oryol) species of epiphytic lichens were detected. The number of species in small settlements was 1.5 times lower than that of large cities. There were 8-15 and 25-32 species of epiphytic lichens in the central region and in the periphery of Bryansk, respectively. The number of epiphytic lichen species detected in the parks was 41. Within the territory of large cities, 17 species of lichens were identified as potential indicators, since they were found in every second or fourth sample. Maximum concentrations of lead were recorded in industrial areas of cities, as well as near major roads with traffic intersection and bridges and in some dormitory suburbs. This is a distinctive feature of large cities – the predominance of lead in lichen thalli, which is primarily associated with vehicles. In small cities in which there are no specific industrial enterprises (metallurgical plants, etc.), other heavy metals – manganese and iron – prevail in the thalli of lichens. In this work, new methods are adopted – mapping pollution with the use of nitrophilous epiphytic lichens that reflect the ongoing macro processes of nitrification in urban areas. The authors have proposed and tested the following lichen indicator methods: the use of indicator species (epiphytes-nitrophytes) of various sensitivities and the study of their distribution within the territory. The mapping method has been substantiated, which takes into account the API and zoning of territories according to the level of general pollution. Among the indicator species, Xanthoria parietina turned out to be the most suitable one.

Diagnostics of the condition of marginal territories by lichen-indication methods

The author’s definition of marginal territories is based on the principle of their uniqueness, specificity, and isolation. Marginal territories mean closed border areas located on the edge of districts or isolated areas in the center under the influence of factors and released a higher diversity and number of species, characterized by isolation from the center, which are based on the isolation of life of the population of the district. The assessment of the quality of the environment for the comfort of living in marginal territories was carried out in comparison with the control areas related to the lands of localities and recreational territories. It is carried out on the basis of a comprehensive analysis of the habitat of groups of organisms sensitive to environmental degradation, belonging to the department of Lichens. The assessment of the condition of marginal territories was carried out by methods of determining the degree of lichen cover and the air pollution level parameter, the biotic index parameter, and the poleo-tolerance index in comparison with control territories related to the lands of settlements and recreational territories.

Ontogenetic structure of lichen populations as the index of the condition of the urbanized territories

The results of population monitoring in lichen indication promote the detection of resistance of lichen species to the pollution of environment. The population of Xanthoria parietina (L.) Th. Fr. on the territory of the city of Samara and in the neighborhood of the Bolshaya Glushitsa settlement (Bolsheglushitsky district, Samara region) (Russia) were studied. For identification of ontogenetic conditions of talluses, the approaches and a nomenclature of population and ontogenetic researches of Magnoliophyta were used. Taking into account the exposition, the projective cover of Ulmus pumila trunks with Xanthoria parietina talluses was revealed. On Ulmus pumila tree stems in the Bolshechernigovsky municipal district of Samara region the prevailing ontogenetic group in populations of Xanthoria parietina is young generative group, within the city it is mature generative group. Talluses in the same course of ontogenetic development have the least area, and then, the vitality, on the western part of a trunk, and the greatest on the south side. At the same time the vital level of tallus directly depends on the level of environmental pollution. The decrease in the number of talluses is related to indexes of density, illumination, natural tree mortality, cuttings, fires, diseases of tree species.