Air pollution monitoring of the bioindicator lichen, Cetraria cuculata , using microscopy and energy-dispersive x-ray microanalysis
Lichens, due their sensitivities to variation in environmental conditions have long served as bioindicators of air pollution in arctic and sub-arctic regions for such agents as gaseous air pollutants, acidic rain and misting, and heavy metal deposition. Lichens are an important part of the food chai...
| Published in: | Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America |
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| Main Authors: | , |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
1994
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0424820100169456 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0424820100169456 |
| Summary: | Lichens, due their sensitivities to variation in environmental conditions have long served as bioindicators of air pollution in arctic and sub-arctic regions for such agents as gaseous air pollutants, acidic rain and misting, and heavy metal deposition. Lichens are an important part of the food chain in arctic regions due to serving as a major food source for animals such as caribou. In this study the fruticose lichen, Cetraria cuculata , was collected from a site 5 km downwind from a major nickel and copper smelting plant near the city of Norilsk in the Siberian region of Russia 330 km north of the Arctic circle. This site is one of the most heavily polluted regions in the world. In contrast, “clean” samples of C. cuculata , representing controls, were gathered from a remote region 800 km downwind and northeast of Norilsk at the eastern end of Lake Tamyr on the Tamyr Peninsula. Subsequently, different microscopies including scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) microanalysis were employed in order to determine structural and compositional impacts of the atmospheric deposition. Such techniques have recently been proven to be of considerable value in other studies of contaminated lichen thalli. |
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