Environmental conditions and chemical response of a transplanted lichen to an urban area

The fruticose lichenRamalina ecklonii(Spreng.) Mey. and Flot was transplanted to 28 biomonitoring sites in Cَrdoba, Argentina. Pigments, hydroperoxy conjugated dienes, malondialdehyde, soluble protein and sulphur were quantified in the lichen samples. The biomonitoring sites were determined according to different environmental conditions: traffic, industries, buildings, trees and altitude. Redundancy analysis (RDA) was applied to detect the variation of the pattern on the lichen variables that can be «best» explained by the environmental variables considered. The quantified chemical parameters that showed variations were sulphur accumulation, phaeophytin a concentration, soluble protein concentration and the phaeophytina/chlorophyllaand chlorophyllb/chlorophyllaratios. The biomonitor chemical response was associated with the emission sources in the area, and also with some of the environmental variables such as the presence of trees, buildings and altitude, that affect the spread of pollutants.