Lichens as bioindicators of air pollution in the metropolitan corridor Guatemala City
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54495/Rev.Cientifica.v26i1.79Keywords:
Lichens, Index of Atmospheric Purity, Environmental Classifications Factor, bioinbdicator, Jacaranda mimosifolia D. DonAbstract
The increase of toxic substances into the atmosphere in Guatemala City has led to a progressive deterioration of the air quality. Therefore, it is necessary to incorporate an economic monitoring system that is able to identify the areas of the city with the highest levels of air pollution, and after that, be able to take the appropriate mitigation measures according to it. In this regard, this study categorized the levels of air pollution through the Index of Atmospheric Purity (IAP) complemented with coverage of
each specie, the Environmental Classification Factor (ECF) and the change in diversity of lichens on Jacaranda trees in 32 points of metropolitan corridor of Guatemala City. The result reports 16 families, 23 genera and 65 species of lichens, whose 26 are new records for the country, and 5 for the city. IAP rate varied from 4.5 to 25.5, indicating that the metropolitan corridor is homogeneous regarding to
high levels of air pollution. In points P5 (INCA) and P13 (Parish Church Parroquia Santa Marta) the lower rate of IAP were found, meaning that these are the points with the higher degree of air pollution; and points P28 (Marroquín University) and P21 (Avenida las Americas 1) obtained the highest degree, being the least polluted areas. The incorporation of the value of coverage to the IAP allows categorizing areas at a finer scale, giving more importance to toxitolerant and toxisensitive species. These results demonstrate that lichens can complement physical-chemical measurements of air pollution, especially in places where there is no equipment for it and it and therefore could indicate places with environmental
problems that may need instrumental research, such as points P5 and P13. Furthermore, 10 micro lichen species are proposed to be used as air pollution indicators in future researches.
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