Manual for Monitoring Air Quality Using Lichens on National Forests of the Pacific Northwest
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United States Department of Agriculture Manual for Monitoring Air Forest Service Quality Using Lichens on Pacific Northwest Region National Forests of the Pacific Air Resource Management Northwest R6-NR-ARM-TP-02-04 Field protocols Laboratory protocols Individualized sampling strategies for nine national forests Manual for Monitoring Air Quality Using Lichens on National Forests of the Pacific Northwest Field protocols, laboratory protocols, and individual sampling strategies for the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area Deschutes National Forest Gifford Pinchot National Forest Mt. Hood National Forest Siuslaw National Forest Umpqua National Forest Wallowa-Whitman National Forest Willamette National Forest and Winema National Forest US Department of Agriculture-Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Region, Air Resource Management, Portland, Oregon January 2004 Cover illustration of Nephroma laevigatum by Alexander Mikulin. Copies of this document can be obtained from: Program Director, Air Resource Management, USDA-Forest Service Pacific Northwest Region, 333 SW 1st Street, Portland, OR 97204. This document is also available on-line at the url < http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/aq >. Suggested citation: Geiser, L. 2004. Monitoring Air Quality Using Lichens on National Forests of the Pacific Northwest: Methods and Strategy. USDA-Forest Service Pacific Northwest Region Technical Paper, R6-NR-AQ-TP-1-04. 134 pp. The U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activates on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, and marital or family status. Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information should contact USDA’s TARGET Center at 202-720-2600 (voice and TDD). To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, Room 326-W, Whitten Building, 14th and Independence Avenue, Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call 202-720-5964 (voice or TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This document records the methods used to survey lichen communities and to collect lichens for chemical analysis on national forests of the Pacific Northwest during the 1990s for air quality indication. Individualized sampling strategies for nine national forests provide a synopsis of local and semi-regional emission sources with potential to adversely affect Forest ecosystems, monitoring priorities, maps of survey site locations, and rotation schedules for remeasurements. Current status of and trends in air quality, including ecological effects, can be indicated by repeat measurements using the same methodology. Data and reports from the first round of monitoring are available from the director of the USDA-Forest Service Pacific Northwest Region Air Program, or from the air program website at http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/aq. Two additional sources for data retrieval are the Forest Service Natural Resources Information System and the Northwest Alliance for Computational Science and Engineering at Oregon State University, http://airlichen.nacse.org/. i ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This program was initiated by national forest staff Jon Martin, George Bush, Deigh Bates, Nancy Diaz, Tom Felando, Mike Kania, John Wade, Mary Zuschlag, Tom High, Doug Bright, Richard Helliwell, and John Szymoniak. Supported by Ken Snell, Jim Russell, Bob Bachman, Janice Peterson, and Susan Sater of the USFS Pacific Northwest Region Air Program, they envisioned a unified regional approach to biomonitoring air quality using lichens. The core methods of lichen community analysis utilized in this document were developed by Bruce McCune for the National Forest Health Monitoring Program. Peter Neitlich provided further assistance to ensure that the protocols described herein remain interfaceable with FHM data. Fred Rhoades created the basic framework that led to the section on chemical analysis. Peter Eldred produced the national forest maps using a base map developed by a USDI-BLM taskforce coordinated by Jeff Nighbert. Cooperation from the staff of the regional Current Vegetation Survey program, especially from Jeff Reis, John Teply, and Bob Brown was invaluable. Much appreciation is owed by all to the many skilled summer personnel who field-tested and implemented these methods on the national forests and to their direct supervisors. Special thanks to Jim Riley, Shanti Berryman, Pekka Halonen, and Doug Glavich for assistance with identifications, and to Anne Ingersoll for help in compiling the appendices, researching current emissions data, and editing the manuscript. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .............................................................................................................. i ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................................... ii 1. INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 LICHEN MONITORING BY THE USFS PACIFIC NORTHWEST REGION AIR RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PROGRAM: HISTORY AND OBJECTIVES ................. 1 1.2 USFS RESPONSIBILITIES FOR AIR RESOURCE MANAGEMENT....................... 1 1.21 Federally legislated responsibilities................................................................................. 1 1.22 USFS Air Resource Management policy......................................................................... 2 1.23 Regional Air Resource Management guidelines ............................................................. 3 1.3 LICHENS AS BIOMONITORS OF AIR QUALITY ...................................................... 3 1.31 Monitoring sulfur, nitrogen and metals via chemical analysis of lichens. ...................... 3 1.32 Sensitivity of lichens to air pollutants. ............................................................................ 4 1.33 Lichen monitoring guidelines for US federal land managers.......................................... 5 2. METHODS ................................................................................................................................. 5 2.1 SUMMARY.......................................................................................................................... 5 2.11 Field protocols and training procedures .......................................................................... 5 2.12 Quality assurance and quality control ............................................................................. 5 2.13 Selection of plot locations ............................................................................................... 5 2.15 Monitoring frequency...................................................................................................... 6 2.16 Reporting......................................................................................................................... 6 2.17 Supplemental monitoring and other uses of lichen information...................................... 6 2.2 TISSUE COLLECTION AND ELEMENT ANALYSIS METHODS............................ 7 2.21 Sample collection procedure ........................................................................................... 7 2.22 Sample preservation and storage ..................................................................................... 9 2.23 Sample delivery............................................................................................................... 9 2.24 Common problems and solutions .................................................................................. 10 2.25 Equipment and supplies................................................................................................. 10 2.26 Interferences .................................................................................................................. 11 2.27 Safety............................................................................................................................. 11 2.28 Quality control and performance standards................................................................... 11 2.29 Specialist procedures..................................................................................................... 12 2.3 LABORATORY ANALYSIS ........................................................................................... 12 2.31 Sulfur............................................................................................................................. 12 2.32 Nitrogen......................................................................................................................... 12 2.33 Aluminum, boron, cadmium, calcium, chromium, copper, iron, lead, magnesium, manganese, nickel, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, and zinc.............................................. 13 2.34 Barium, beryllium, cobalt, lithium, molybdenum, rubidium, silicon, strontium, titanium, and vanadium ........................................................................................................................ 13 2.35 Ash................................................................................................................................. 13 2.36 Fluoride ......................................................................................................................... 14 2.37 Mercury ........................................................................................................................