MONITORING AIR QUALITY USING LICHENS IN CHELYABINSK, RUSSIAN FEDERATION

Authors

  • Anastasiya M. Kostryukova
  • Tatyana G. Krupnova
  • Irina V. Mashkova
  • Elena E. Schelkanova

Keywords:

Lichens, Monitoring Air Quality, Bioindication, X-Ray Fluorescence Analysis

Abstract

Air pollution in large cities is one of the most serious ecological problems, because emissions
always go into the atmosphere. One of the specific methods of pollution monitoring is lichen indication. The
aim of the study is to evaluate the quality of the atmospheric air of Chelyabinsk city (Russian Federation).
The results were obtained from samples collected in June-July 2015. The trees for the lichen sampling were
chosen from the areas with different pollution levels: relatively clean, moderately polluted, hardly polluted.
For the purposes of the comparison lichens were measured in Ilmen reserve, as the protected relatively clean
territory. Using the method of lichen indication mapping we identified an indicator species Parmelia sulcate.
Based upon epiphytic lichen distribution in sampling areas we distinguished several zones of atmospheric
pollution: polluted zone, relatively clean zone, the cleanest zone. Lichen biodiversity and their projective
cover are stated to decrease as the anthropogenic load is increasing. In urban and anthropogenic environment
lichen population density is declining more intensively than the number of species. Also we measured
elemental composition of lichens by X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis. We have studied the presence of
heavy metals. Zink oxide, chrome and mangan oxide rate in the samples from environmentally troubled areas
near steel factories and the power plantis almost twice higher.

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Published

2016-10-25

How to Cite

Anastasiya M. Kostryukova, Tatyana G. Krupnova, Irina V. Mashkova, & Elena E. Schelkanova. (2016). MONITORING AIR QUALITY USING LICHENS IN CHELYABINSK, RUSSIAN FEDERATION. GEOMATE Journal, 12(34), 101–106. Retrieved from https://geomatejournal.com/geomate/article/view/1408

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