Species and ecosystem level bioindicators of airborne pollution: an analysis of two major studies

Grodzinski, W. . Dept. of Animal Ecology; Yorks, T.P. . Natural Resource Ecology Lab.

Species and ecosystem level bioindicators of airborne pollution: an analysis of two major studies

1981

Grodzinski, W. (Jagiellonian Univ., Krakow (Poland). Dept. of Animal Ecology) | Yorks, T.P. (Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO (USA). Natural Resource Ecology Lab.)

Bioindication of air pollution effects has received considerable attention in recent years. It has been almost entirely focused on individual species and relatively little notice has been given to ecosystem level process and function monitors. Longterm research projects in the Niepolomice Forest in southern Poland and the Colstrip area in southeast Montana, U.S.A., were analyzed for both organismic and system level indicators and monitors for SO, trace elements, and fluoride pollution originating in nearby coal-fired industrial processes. Species of lichens exhibited changes in morphology and survival and pine species exhibited pollutant accumulation in needles at both sites. Declines in Scots pine growth in Poland of up to 20% were compared with declines in western wheatgrass rhizome biomass in Montana to illustrate system wide effects on primary productivity. Directly observable declines in decomposition rate were noted for both sites at higher pollution levels and tied to system wide occurrences of nutrient deficiency and toxicant buildup in soil pools. Pollutant increases in deer antler composition, changes in grasshopper dietary patterns, and lichen density and health were postulated to have system level implications as well

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