Do lichens have “memory” of their native nitrogen environment?

Munzi, Silvana; Cruz, Cristina; Branquinho, Cristina

doi:10.1007/s00425-010-1300-0

Cited by 15 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…Possible factors influencing susceptibility of lichens to environmental pollutants might be the different cation exchange capacities of lichen species [6] [40] [41], because the sensitivity decreases in correlation with the cation exchange capacity [42]. This would indicate that also charged particles or ions from diesel exhaust are bound to the mycobiont cell walls and distributed by apoplastic transport to other parts of the thallus.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sensitivity of Lichens to Diesel Exhaust under Laboratory Conditions

Langmann¹,

Madl²,

Türk³

et al. 2014

JEP

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Lichen vegetation reacts very sensitively to a variety of air pollutants including increased nitrogen concentrations as well as to traffic exhaust in general, which makes lichens reliable monitoring organisms for atmospheric pollution. Recent environmental studies have shown that decreasing abundance of acidophytic lichen species and the increase of nitrophytic lichens can be explained by elevated levels of atmospheric nitric-compounds adsorbed onto nanoparticles. One major source of these atmospheric compounds amongst a wider pollution inventory is diesel exhaust-a mixture of gases and particle matter. This study aimed to shed light on the impact of diesel exhaust on the viability of six differently sensitive lichen species. Diesel exhaust particle concentrations in the laboratory experiments resembled those at a local highway during rush hour. By incubation in a closed stainless steel chamber we could exclude influences from other pollutants than diesel exhaust providing explicit data about the effects of diesel exhaust on lichens. The investigations revealed effects on the photosynthesis of the lichen photobionts and hence the lichen vitality. The conclusions of this study are that 1) the photobiont is affected stronger as the mycobiont and 2) older parts of the lichen are damaged first. Another remarkable result of this study is that 3) these lichens are regenerating to some extent during incubation-free periods-unless the organism is not damaged too much to restore photosynthetic activity. To our knowledge this is the first study evaluating the impact of diesel exhaust on lichens under laboratory conditions separate from other interfering pollutants.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sensitivity of Lichens to Diesel Exhaust under Laboratory Conditions

Langmann¹,

Madl²,

Türk³

et al. 2014

JEP

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“…Nitrogen tolerance in lichens has a metabolic component, as the tolerance requires the simultaneous availability of carbon and nitrogen (Hauck 2010; Munzi et al . 2011). Gaio-Oliveira et al .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Response ofEvernia prunastrito urban environmental conditions in Central Europe after the decrease of air pollution

et al. 2013

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The epiphytic lichen Evernia prunastri is sensitive to air pollution and reacted by total retreat to the worsening of air quality during the peak of SO2 pollution in Central Europe (1950s–1990). Since 1990, after a significant decrease in air pollution, epiphytic lichens recolonized previously polluted areas, including E. prunastri. We investigated the physiological status of E. prunastri, transplanted for six months in 34 sites in the urban area of Bratislava (Slovakia) under current conditions. The content of chlorophylls, cortical and medullar secondary metabolites and soluble proteins were explored. We then examined the relationship of these parameters with the environmental quality status, reflected by the diversity of epiphytic lichens. The results showed that the physiological status of E. prunastri did not change significantly after exposure. Positive correlations were found between lichen diversity in the sampling sites and physiological parameters (photosynthetic pigments and phaeophytinization quotient) in the transplants. Transplants from sampling sites with a greater proportion of nitrophilous lichens displayed a decrease in photosynthetic pigments. Sites where E. prunastri naturally occurred had a lower proportion of nitrophilous species in comparison to sites where E. prunastri was not present. This suggests that the indicator species E. prunastri may also recolonize sites with low eutrophication in urban environments under decreased air pollution, and the information on its presence can help to assess the pressure caused by nitrogen excess.

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“…A common sign of N compounds toxicity is the decline of essential cations in the lichen thallus. Ammonium supply resulted in a decrease in intracellular K + and Mg 2+ of X. parietina (Munzi et al 2011). An excessive ammonium load affected the cell membrane integrity until rupture and as a consequence, a loss of cytoplasmatic material occurred that can be confirmed by intracellular K + leakage.…”

Section: Nitrogen Compoundsmentioning

confidence: 96%

Monitoring Lichen as Indicators of Atmospheric Quality

Sujetovienė

2014

Recent Advances in Lichenology

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Do lichens have “memory” of their native nitrogen environment?

Cited by 15 publications

References 42 publications

Sensitivity of Lichens to Diesel Exhaust under Laboratory Conditions

Sensitivity of Lichens to Diesel Exhaust under Laboratory Conditions

Response ofEvernia prunastrito urban environmental conditions in Central Europe after the decrease of air pollution

Monitoring Lichen as Indicators of Atmospheric Quality

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