Quantitative assessment of atmospheric elements and their interaction with transplanted lichen Pyxine cocoes (Sw.) Nyl

Abstract

A common foliose lichen Pyxine cocoes (Sw.) Nyl. was transplanted at 12 different sites of Dehradun City. The thalli of P. cocoes have been exposed for three months to monitor the accumulation of Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn along with C and N and their impact on photosynthetic pigments (Chl a, Chl b, Total Chl) were also estimated. The results showed that thalli transplanted close to the city centre (0 km) exhibit early stress as revealed by decreasing photosynthetic pigments as compared to the control site. The qualitative and quantitative results of elements showed negative correlations with distance from the city centre. Among the metals analysed, Fe (3396.71µg g-1 DW) at Haridwar road followed by Zn (279.52µg g-1 DW) at Rajpur road found in maximum concentration. Similarly, the maximum carbon (C) concentration (52.05%) was observed at Haridwar road whereas the nitrogen (N) concentration (1.73%) was observed maximum at Rajpur road. The lichen P. cocoes possess good accumulation capacity for most of the atmospheric elements. It is well evident from this study that selected lichen species could be used to detect low to higher atmospheric elemental emissions from vehicular activity in the ambient air and the biomonitoring procedure could be further standardized and used as part of an environmental monitoring programme.

Keywords

• Anthropogenic Elements
• Carbon/Nitrogen
• Biomonitoring
• Transplant
• Lichen