INTRODUCTION in other studies (e.g., Bari and others 2001, Boquete and others 2009, Geiser and Neitlich lemental concentration in lichens is a CHAPTER 6. 2007, Root and others 2015). Evemes, Flacap, popular and cost-effective tool to bioindicate and Phyaip were recommended as bioindicator pollution load at plots (Donovan and others E species for the study region (Will- Wolf and Lichen Species to 2016, Paoli and others 2014, Root and others others 2017a, In press). 2015) and to complement costly instrumented Bioindicate Air Quality monitoring to help assess environmental health. Based on the upper Midwest studies and From recent development of lichen elemental 1994–2005 species frequencies in the FIA in Eastern United bioindicators for air pollution in the U.S. National Lichen Database (table 6.1)2 Will- Wolf upper Midwest (Will- Wolf and others 2017a, and others (In press) recommended bioindicator States from Elemental 2017b, In press) for the U.S. Department of species for Northeastern (NE) region States Agriculture, Forest Service, Forest Inventory (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Composition: Lessons and Analysis Program (FIA), we learned Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, and important lessons about suitability of lichen Vermont), Mid-Atlantic (MidA) region States from the Midwest species in large-scale monitoring programs for (Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio, the Eastern United States. Five macrolichen Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia), species common in Eastern North America (E and Southeastern (SE) region States (Alabama, NA) (Brodo and others 2001)1 were evaluated Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Susan Will-Wolf in that study: Evernia mesomorpha (code Evemes; Virginia). Virginia was included in both the Sarah Jovan small/medium size fruticose growth form), MidA and the SE regions to assist ecological Michael C. Amacher Flavoparmelia caperata (code Flacap; large foliose), evaluation of region boundaries. Parmelia sulcata (code Parsul; medium foliose), 101 Physcia aipolia and P. stellaris combined (code For this study, our objective was to evaluate Phyaip; small foliose, tightly appressed), and the recommendations of Will-Wolf and others Punctelia rudecta (code Punrud; large foliose). (in press) using data from other studies. We Elemental data and multi-element Pollution evaluated 1994–2005 distribution patterns of Indices derived from them clearly represented all five tested macrolichen bioindicator species relative site pollution load better than did with respect to pollution load and nearby regionally modeled pollutant deposition (Will- forest cover in the NE and MidA regions using Wolf and others 2017a), as has also been found lichen community data for subsets of FIA plots.
1 Jovan, S.; Haldeman, M.; Will-Wolf, S. [and others]. [In 2 Jovan, S.; Will-Wolf, S.; Geiser, L.; Dillman, K. [In management review, spring 2018]. National atlas of epiphytic management review, spring 2018]. User guide for the lichens in forested habitats, U.S.A. Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW- national FIA lichen database (beta). Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW- GTR-XXX. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, GTR-XXX. Portland, OR: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. XX p. Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. XX p. 102 Forest Health Monitoring SECTION 2 Chapter 6 for theseregionssupportimplementation of upper Midweststudyanditsrecommendations Comparisons ofourresultswiththosethe scattered unevenly andoftenmeasuredifferent network instrumentedmonitor sitesare has extensivelichenelemental data;government None oftheNE,MidA,or SE regionscurrently lichen elementalbioindicators inthoseregions. of plots (p) in parentheses after lichen region code. region lichen after parentheses in (p) plots of name. c after parentheses in indicated Europe Western and States United b a species additional an plus bold) in (names species indicator elemental lichen target five with regions lichen U.S. eastern in plots FIA 1994–2005 unique of Table 6.1—Percentage Lichen species Lichen (possible future target species; no usage) no species; target future (possible Punctelia missouriensis studies) U.S. eastern (some Punctelia rudecta Physcia aipolia Europe) studies, U.S. eastern (some sulcata Parmelia Europe) studies, U.S. eastern (several caperata Flavoparmelia Europe) in congener studies, U.S. eastern (some Evernia mesomorpha species target common most two the of Either species target common most three the of Any species target common most four the of Any species target Any FIA lichen regions are North Central (NC), Northeastern (NE), MidAtlantic (MidA), and Southeastern (SE); number number (SE); Southeastern and (MidA), MidAtlantic (NE), Northeastern (NC), Central North are regions lichen FIA The three species most frequently found in each region have values in bold. Past elemental indicator use in Eastern Eastern in use indicator elemental Past bold. in values have region each in found 2). frequently footnote most (see species three others and The Jovan from data press); (In others and Will-Wolf from permission with Reprinted P. stellaris (L.) Nyl. (no other studies) other (no Nyl. (L.) b (Ehrh. Taylor (Ach.) Krog (Ach.) Nyl. ex G. Wilh. &Ladd Wilh. G. (L.) Hale (L.) Humb.) Fürnr. and Fürnr. Humb.) Species Evemes Punmis Punrud Phyaip Flacap Parsul code FIA lichen region FIA NC 56.4% 96.6% 90.7% 39.2% 95.6% 95.1% 78.4% 69.1% 71.6% (204p) 6.4% States, USA. assess responseto climateandairqualityintheMid-Atlantic review forTheBryologist, spring2018].Lichenindexes 3 A PollutionIndexfromlichen elemental very expensive(Will-Wolf andothers2017a). pollutants, andonsiteinstrumentmonitoringis Will-Wolf, S.;Jovan,Nelsen,M.P. [andothers].[In NE 40.5% 93.9% 95.8% 63.0% 64.0% 85.6% 95.4% 97.0% 57.8% c (625p) 0 MidA 23.1% 52.4% 85.1% 58.0% 76.9% 10.8% 91.3% 91.9% 91.9% 3.3% (779p) a
SE 88.2% 88.2% 86.3% 32.8% 88.2% 60.2% 78.7% (357p) 4.2% 5.0% 0 3 analyses would greatly improve monitoring of environmental health across eastern FIA plots in most subregions.
METHODS For the upper Midwest study (fig. 6.1), trained non-specialists (FIA field staff) collected single-species composite samples for all five target species under 20–50 percent tree canopy near permanent FIA plots using rigorous protocols [details in Will-Wolf and others (2017a, footnote 3)]. An expert collected samples of the same species from temporary plots using both rigorous protocols and several variants of relaxed (and more economical) protocols. Elemental data from combustion and ICP-OES (inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy) were validated, and then field sample quality and subsequent elemental data quality were evaluated; only the most rigorous protocols were supported [details in Will-Wolf and others (2017b)] to provide reliable data. Data were converted between species with 103 General Linear Models (GLM) or regression [both in SPSS (2015)], then combined for Figure 6.1—Approximate locations of lichen analyses; two pollution indices were developed B sites and instrument monitor sites for the from multiple elements [aluminum (Al), cobalt upper Midwest study. Wisconsin, marked in (Co), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), and iron the U.S. inset, is in the center with Minnesota (Fe) for one; nitrogen (N) and sulfur (S) for ( ) west, Iowa southwest, and Illinois south. the other]. Estimation of relative pollution Full names of ecoregion provinces (Cleland load from lichen elemental concentrations was and others 2007, McNab and others 2007) confirmed by comparison with monitor site data indicated by background shading are: 212– (Will-Wolf and others 2017a). Lichen elemental Laurentian Mixed Forest, 222–Midwest bioindicators and protocols were recommended Broadleaf Forest, and 251–Prairie Parkland for implementation in other eastern U.S. regions (Temperate). [Adapted with permission from (Will-Wolf and others, In press). Will-Wolf and others (2017a).] 104 Forest Health Monitoring SECTION 2 Chapter 6 ( and onlycorrelationswithr with 0.05> account forexperiment-wideerror, correlations variables, andinterpretationarereported.To for regressions,adjustedr probability ( correlations, Pearsonr and nearbyforestcover(SPSS2015).For log10-transformed dataforpollutionload with linearregressionusingoriginaldataand Pearson andSpearmanrankcorrelations evaluated forNEandMidAdatasetswith to pollutionloadandnearbylandcoverwere Relationships ofbioindicatorspeciesabundance Will-Wolf andothers2015a;MidA:footnote3). Midwest: Will-Wolf andothers2017a;NE: project areasdiscussedinthisstudy(upper was evaluatedwithscatterplotsforthethree and proportionofnearbylandinforestcover indicator specieswithrespecttopollutionload bioindicator speciesandoneadditionalpossible p <0.00001)wereconsideredecologically Frequency ofoneormorethefivetested p p >0.005wereconsideredweak, ), anddirectionarereported; 2 orSpearman 2 , p 2 or , independent rho 2 ≥0.10 rho 2 , nearby forestcover, andrelativepollutionload p important. Regressionmodelswith0.05> one-quarter ofOhio(fig.6.2B). MidA States,butrepresentedonlytheeastern study (footnote3).Plotswerespreadacrossmost (including Virginia) wasavailablefromasimilar abundance at219plotsintheMidAregion the region(Will-Wolf andothers2015a);species independent climateandpollutionindicesfor available fromdevelopmentofstatistically at 218plotsacrossallStates(fig.6.2A)was region, bioindicatorlichenspeciesabundance each ofthethreeprojectareas.ForNE Pollution Indexdevelopedindependentlyfor load wasrepresentedbythelichen-basedsite Midwest, and~5km site: ~1km with forestcoverinabufferzonearoundeach Nearby forestcoverwasthepercentageofpixels were availablefromallthreeearlierstudies. > 0.01 wereconsideredweak. Frequency ofeachlichenspecies,percent 2 bufferforNE,~3km 2 forMidA.Pollution 2 forupper (A) E B Figure 6.2—Northeastern (A) and MidAtlantic (B) region project A plots (approximate locations). For comparison, the city of Newark, NJ, is at the bottom center of the map in (A) and near the upper right corner of the map in (B). On-frame plots are permanent FIA plots; off-frame plots are temporary plots surveyed only for each project. Full names of ecoregion provinces (Cleland and others 2007; McNab and others 2007) indicated by background shading in (A) are: 221–Eastern Broadleaf Forest, 211– Northeastern Mixed Forest, and M211– Adirondack-New England Mixed Forest - Coniferous Forest - Alpine (B) Meadow. Full names in (B) are: M211– Adirondack-New England Mixed 105 Forest - Coniferous Forest - Alpine Meadow, M221–Central Appalachians Broadleaf Forest - Coniferous Forest - Meadow, 221–Eastern Broadleaf Forest, 211–Northeastern Mixed Forest, and 231/232–Southeastern/ A Outer Coastal Plain Mixed Forest A B (two provinces combined, abbreviated E B as “Southeastern” in the legend). [(A) Adapted with permission from Will-Wolf and others (2015a); (B) adapted with permission from Will- Wolf and others (see footnote 3).] 106 Forest Health Monitoring SECTION 2 Chapter 6 The tightcorrespondences betweenN values calculated onlyfromlesssensitive lichenspecies. load, asestimatedfromthe sitePollutionIndex for sitesbelowthatmaximum relativepollution be areliableelementalbioindicator, butonly for thesamesitesoverlap. Thus Evemeswould of sites(fig.6.3B),EvemesandFlacapvalues polluted sites.Afterconversionandexclusion were higherthanFlacapvaluesatthesameless with Flacap.OriginalEvemesNvalues(fig.6.3A) Will-Wolf andothers2017a)forequivalence to achievesuccessfuldataconversion(viaGLM: some Evemessamplesfrommorepollutedsites of figures6.3Aand6.3Billustratesexclusion (e.g., Will-Wolf andothers2015a);comparison sensitivity consistentwithotherU.S.studies monitor sitedata)thatreflectedspecies from PollutionIndexN+Sandinstrumented a maximumrelativepollutionload(estimated Evemes sampleshadgooddataqualitybelow data conversion:Will-Wolf andothers2017a). of allfivespeciesat83sitesaftersuccessful had goodelementaldataquality(203samples and others2017b).FlacapPhyaipsamples Phyaip fromotherlichenspecies(Will-Wolf successfully distinguishedEvemes,Flacap,and helped evaluatethoserecommendations. community compositionintwoofthoseregions eastern U.S.regions.Comparisonwithlichen applications andlimitationsinthreeother generated severalrecommendationsforboth bioindicators intheupperMidweststudy RESULTS ANDDISCUSSON Forest InventoryandAnalysisfieldstaff Relative successoflichenspeciesaselemental
on presenceof eachspeciesfoundnearby than withpollutionload,and logisticregression strongly correlatedwithnearby forestcover pollution. Presenceofeach specieswasmore percentage ofnearbyforest coverastositeair others (2017a)qualitatively linkedasmuchto between thespecieswasinWill-Wolf and the studyarea(fig.6.4C);partitioningofsites upper Midweststudy)betweenthemcovered Phyaip (notusedbeforebutsuccessfulinthe and others2015b,2017a,footnote3) for lichenelementalanalysis,e.g.,Will-Wolf the LichenPollutionIndex.Flacap(oftenused for alllichenspecieswereincorporatedinto 6.4A, and6.4BreflectthatconvertedN data and theLichenPollutionIndexinfigures6.3B, site andfromsiteswithsimilarvalues.[DataWill-Wolf andothers (Inpress).] both Nandsulfur(S)inlichens.Manysymbolsoverlap,fromspeciesatthesame upper Midweststudyfornitrogen(N)inlichensvs.aLichenPollutionIndexfrom Figure 6.3—FlacapandEvemes(A)original(B)convertedsampledatafromthe (A) E (B) C (A) (B)