THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY NGO DUC GIANG Potential use of Lichens as an indicator of air polution in urban airshed BACHELOR THESIS Study Mode: Full-time Major : Environmental science and management Facully : International Training and Developing centre Batch : 43 Advance Education Program Thai Nguyen, 21/09/2015 n Thai Nguyen University of Agriculture and Forestry Degree Program Bachelor of Environment science and Management Student name Ngo Duc Giang Student ID DTN1153110179 Thesis title Potential use of Lichens as an indicator of air polution in urban airshed Duong Van Thao Supervisors David Blake Andrea Hinwood Will Stock Abstract: The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness lichens as an indicator of air pollution in the Perth Metropolitan Region (PMR) urban airshed. Sample sites were selected by identifying regions of high, medium and low NOx concentrations based on interpolation models using data from a previous study. In each of these regions 40 rooves were sampled for the presence and abundance of lichen species. Additionally sites within Kings Park and within 1km and 5km of the park were selected.
It was hypothesized that large regions of urban vegetation would improve air quality and therefore the presence and abundance of lichen species. Environmental variables such as road density and vegetation density within a specified distance of the sample location were collected for each of the sample sites using GIS. Two way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to evaluate the i n relationship between lichen abundance at each site of sample and each environmental variable. Correlations between lichen abundance and each environmental variable at each site were also undertaken.
Vegetation cover was significantly associated with lichen abundance. Generalized linear model to examine those environment variables which best predicted a response in lichen abundance. Results show that urban bushland has significantly associated with lichen abundance. Other final conclusions were contrary to what have expected that areas containing greater NOx concentration had higher lichen abundance, more lichen abundance with an increasing of road density.
The results of this investigation suggest that lichens have the potential to evaluate the air quality in urban bushland but some others factors were influencing the result. Keywords: Lichens, air quality, Perth Metropolitan Region, NOx concentration, environment variables, vegetation cover Number of pages: 46 Date of submission: September 30, 2015 Supervisor’s signature ii n ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to express my sincere thanks and appreciations to my supervisor David Blake for his continuous support throughout the project, from initial advice and every step of the way. Furthermore, I am also my immensely grateful to Prof Andrea Hinwood, Dr Duong Van Thao and Prof Will Stock for comments that greatly improved the manuscript and for guiding me from very first steps of this project. Many thanks and appreciations go to Emily Allen, Jonathon Boeyen for their contributions and supports throughout the process of this project.
iii n TABLE OF CONTENT LIST OF FIGURES. 1 LIST OF TABLES. 3 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS .3 Research questions and hypotheses. 9 PART II: LITERATURE REVIEW.
11 PART III: METHODS. 18 PART IV: RESULT .1 Air quality categories .3 Generalized linear model (GLZ). 33 PART V: DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION.1 Air quality categories .3 Generalized linear model. 41 v n LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.1: Lichens (light grey) living on rooves top of house…………………….1: Perth metropolitan region………………….2: NOx interpolations model at PMR using DER AQMS and HIMAQs study sites.
Interpolations were modeled using data collected in autumn…………………18 Figure 3.3: 300m Buffer vegetation regions…………………………………………….4: 300m buffer road density regions………………………………………….5: Distances from each house to Industrial facility…………………………23 Figure 4.1: Mean and standard error bars of lichen abundance at High, Medium and Low concentration zones…………………………………………………………….2: Distribution of lichens in correlation with 300m road density in each house at Kings Park sites……………………………………………………………….3: Distribution of lichens in correlation with 300m road density at 1km buffer to Kings Park……………………………………………………………….4: Distribution of lichens in correlation with proximity to industry at 1km buffer to Kings Park……………………………………………………………………….5: Distribution of lichens in correlation with vegetation cover at Low concentration of NOx sites…………………………………………………………………32 1 n Figure 4.6: Distribution of lichens in correlation with 500m road density at Medium concentration NOx sites……………………………………………………………………33 Figure 4.7: Distribution of lichens in correlation with proximity to industry at high concentration of NOx sites……………………………………………………………….34 2 n LIST OF TABLES Table 4.1: Anova test between groups and within groups of lichen abundance in each sites of NOx concentration .2: Multiple Comparisons lichen abundance between Low, medium and high concentration of NOx .3: Correlation of environment variable with each category sites.4: Generalized linear model of lichen abundance with environment variables. 34 3 n LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS Abbreviations Meaning DER AQMS Department of Environment Regulation Air Quality Monitoring Sites. NDVI Normalized Difference Vegetation Index. GIS Geographic information system RL Road length PM Particle material VOCs Volatile organic compound 4 n PART I.
Research rationale Urbanization and industrial development impact significantly on air quality globally. In urban areas that are surrounded by industry and that have high traffic use; emissions to the atmosphere can be high. The World Health Organization indicates that air pollution is a major environment-related health threat to children and a risk factor for both acute and chronic respiratory disease (WHO 2015). Poor air quality can also impact the respiratory system, circulation and other organs of the body (Kampa & Castanas, 2008).
Health effects range from minor upper respiratory irritation, chronic respiratory and heart disease, lung cancer and acute respiratory infections in children chronic bronchitis in adults and aggravating pre-existing heart and lung disease, or asthmatic attacks (Kampa & Castanas, 2008). There are specific pollutants which are emitted to the atmosphere in high concentrations. They are: carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, ozone and particles (PM10 PM2. Most of the research on assessing the impacts of air pollution has been focused on human health.
However air pollutants also impact upon plants resulting in foliage disease or mortality of weak plants (Vike, 1999). The uptakes of phytotoxic amounts of metals have also been shown to affect enzyme inhibition (Assche & Clijsters, 1990). Plants can be injured when SO2 damages the stomata of plants (Mudd, 2012). 5 n Conversely, vegetation may improve air quality.
Where large areas of natural vegetation exist, air quality is likely to be better than in less vegetated areas (Nowak, et. This may be because if vegetation is present then it is less likely that heavier polluting activities such as vehicles or industry are also present. Vegetation has also been shown to improve air quality by interrupting air flow and causing the deposition of particulate matter (Vos, et. In the United States, the studied of Nowak, et.
al, (2006) showed that urban trees remove large amounts of air pollution such as O3, PM10, NO2, SO2, CO. Moreover, grass on rooves (extensive green roof) can enhance the effectiveness of trees and shrubs in air pollution (Currie & Bass, 2008). Traditional methods to measure air quality are expensive because of the time and effort involved in collecting and analyzing samples. This often means that the thoroughness of air quality monitoring or sampling is compromised due to a lack of available resources.
al, (2008) showed that passive sampling for NOx with 40 sites with 4 weekly survey cost 10000-12000 Euros or the same survey for active PM sampling costs up to 30000 Euros. Measurements of VOCs for example can cost in the order of $600 per sample. Or particle material equipment consisting of pump and injectors used in the TRAPCA study was estimated to cost 5000 Euros (Brauer, et. However plants, especially lichens can be used as indicators of air pollutions in local areas.
6 n An alternative to expensive, traditional monitoring methods is the use of bio- indicators. As mentioned previously vegetation in particular, can be sensitive to poor air quality (Nowak, et. Bioindicators are organisms that can be used for identification, qualitative determination of human-generated environmental factors or evaluating the quality of the air corresponding with Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) (Conti & Cecchetti, 2001). “Lichens are the result of a symbiotic association of a fungus or algae and are very sensitive to air quality” (Ahmadjian, V, 1993) and have been used to monitor air pollution in many research fields such as metal (Assche & Clijsters, 1990); ammonia emissions and nitrogen (Frati, et.
al, 2007); organic air pollution (Van der Wat & Forbes, 2015); air pollution of lichens near the Strathcona Industrial area Alberta (Elsinger, et. For comparing the air quality in the differences areas, we might see the quantity of lichens may change and have abnormal symptoms. From the above mentioned studies, it is clear that lichens are sensitive to changes in air quality and are commonly found in urban areas, but lichens are not commonly applied in air quality assessments in Australia, particularly in urban environments. Lichens provide a cost-effective method of determining air quality as they are easy to find out in bark of trees, clay rooves of house, but further research is required into their accuracy.
This study will determine the effectiveness of using lichens as a bioindicator for air quality in an urban airshed. Research’s objectives The objective of this research was to investigate the relationship between lichens presence on the roof tops of houses in residential areas in a gradient of air quality. Specially, study aimed to investigate the relationship between lichen presence and air quality levels across the PMR as well as from proximity to Kings Park Botanic Garden in central Perth. Research questions and hypotheses The aim of this study is to investigate whether lichens are useful bio-indicators of air pollution in an urban airshed? In order to achieve this aim, this study will investigate the following hypotheses: Areas of poor air quality will result in lower lichen abundance.
Areas containing large areas of vegetation will have higher lichen abundance compared with areas containing less vegetation. Which environmental/land-use variables influence lichen abundance. Limitations In an urban airshed, the presence and abundance of lichens may be affected by a number of factors besides air quality. These include the type of roof substrate, the age of the building/roof and whether the roof had been cleaned recently (survey asked).
The roof substrate will have an effect on the presence of lichens, as mentioned above the lichens could survive on the rooves with types of materials such as: clay (red color), asbestos-cement (gray color). 8 n The modeling was based on road density over the study sites due to the fact that road density is a proxy measure for vehicle density over a given area; road density however, may not be an accurate reflection of the traffic and emission in that area. The data of this study was calculated based on 2 week sampling period for autumn, which may not be a true reflection of the annual air quality in that region due to seasonal variations Several studies were state that good air quality will have higher lichens abundance but some lichens species need some chemicals to grow, but in certain amount. Białońska and Dayan, 2005, has shown that the added of physodic acid is defensing against stressed caused by pollution.
It means some type of lichens will be stronger with the existence of chemical substances. Definitions Abbreviation Meaning Buffer A zone around a map feature measured in units of distance or time. A buffer is useful for proximity analysis. DER AQMS Department of Environment Regulation Air Quality Monitoring Sites NDVI Normalized Difference Vegetation Index 9 n GIS Geographic information system.
An integrated collection of computer software and data used to view and manage information about geographic places, analyze spatial relationships, and model spatial processes. A GIS provides a framework for gathering and organizing spatial data and related information so that it can be displayed and analyzed. RL Road length 10 n PART II: LITERATURE REVIEW “Lichens are the result of a symbiotic association of a fungus or algae and are very sensitive to air quality” (Ahmadjian, V, 1993). Lichens absorb atmospheric moisture gases and other components directly through thalli (Ahmadijian, V, 2012).