Abstract

GONZALES VARGAS, Nathalie; LUJAN PEREZ, Marcos; NAVARRO SANCHEZ, Gonzalo  and  FLORES MERCADO, Rodrigo. Applicability of bioindicators lichens as monitoring tool for air quality in Cochabamba. RevActaNova. [online]. 2016, vol.7, n.4, pp.455-482. ISSN 1683-0789.

This study was performed in the metropolitan area of Cercado in Cochabamba - Bolivia, using epiphytic lichens as bioindicators of air pollution, through the index of Atmospheric Purity (IAP) method. The research was carried out in 9 monitoring points, taking Fraxinus americana as the only phorophyte, where 12 species of lichens were found in total. Data of climate parameters, pollutants, coverage and frequency of lidien communities were obtained in each monitoring point, in order to establish a statistical analysis using speannan correlations, cluster and path analysis. It was found that the epiphytic lichens are affected directly by atmospheric pollution (mainly NO₂ and PM₁₀) and indirectly by climate parameters and/or geomorphological data. In the case of Cochabamba's Valley, the temperature inversión is influenced directly by the minimum temperature of the coldest month and height, increasing pollution in lower áreas and thus decreasing lichen communities. The development of IAP was able to identify isocontamination zones by the ArcGis program, where áreas with poor air quality were identified in the south and áreas with better quality in the north. We identified as more tolerant species to global pollution, C. concolor, P. pachyphylla and P. nubila, while the most sensitive were H. syncolla and T. chrysophthalmus.

Keywords : Bioindicators; air pollution; lichens; climatic parameters; statistical analysis.

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