Journal
ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION
Volume 145, Issue 1, Pages 203-218Publisher
ELSEVIER SCI LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2006.03.024
Keywords
climate change; diversity; forest health monitoring; air quality; lichen
Categories
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Human activity is changing air quality and climate in the US Pacific Northwest. In a first application of non-metric multidimensional scaling to a large-scale, framework dataset, we modeled lichen community response to air quality and climate gradients at 1416 forested 0.4 ha plots. Model development balanced polluted plots across elevation, forest type and precipitation ranges to isolate pollution response. Air and climate scores were fitted for remaining plots, classed by lichen bioeffects, and mapped. Projected 2040 temperatures would create climate zones with no current analogue. Worst air scores occurred in urban-industrial and agricultural valleys and represented 24% of the landscape. They were correlated with: absence of sensitive lichens, enhancement of nitrophilous lichens, mean wet deposition of ammonium > 0.06 mg l(-1), lichen nitrogen and sulfur concentrations > 0.6% and 0.07%, and SO2 levels harmful to sensitive lichens. The model can detect changes in air quality and climate by scoring re-measurements. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available