Macrolichen Indicators of Air Quality for Nova Scotia

Presence and frequency of epiphytic macrolichens were measured along an air-quality gradient in Halifax City, NS, Canada. Species frequency plots over distance and multidimensional scaling (MDS) suggested lichen-community changes consistent with expected air-quality changes. A provisional list of ai...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Northeastern naturalist 2007-01, Vol.14 (1), p.1-14
Main Authors: Cameron, Robert P, Neily, Thomas, Richardson, David H. S
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acid rain
Air pollutants
Air pollution
Air quality
Biological taxonomies
Downtowns
Environmental pollution
Lichens
Mass spectrometry
Private forests
Protected areas
Sea level
Topographical elevation
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Presence and frequency of epiphytic macrolichens were measured along an air-quality gradient in Halifax City, NS, Canada. Species frequency plots over distance and multidimensional scaling (MDS) suggested lichen-community changes consistent with expected air-quality changes. A provisional list of air-quality indicators was selected based on: 1) demonstrated variation along the air-quality gradient, 2) frequency across the province, 3) literature values of air-quality sensitivity, and 4) ease of field identification. Indicators were placed in one of three classes: 1) pollution tolerant, 2) intermediate pollution tolerance, and 3) pollution sensitive. MDS analysis suggests an elevation gradient in Nova Scotia and this should be investigated with a further study.
ISSN:1092-6194
1938-5307
DOI:10.1656/1092-6194(2007)14[1:MIOAQF]2.0.CO;2