Spatial Variation in the Accumulation of Elements in Thalli of the Lichen Pseudevernia furfuracea (L.) Zopf Transplanted Around a Biomass Power Plant in Italy

Thalli of the lichen Pseudevernia furfuraceawere transplanted for 3 months at 32 sites located in andaround an industrial area of S Italy whose main anthropogenicsources of atmospheric trace elements are a biomasspower plant and vehicular emissions. Meteorologicalstations were deployed at four sites for finer detection oflocal wind patterns. The station near the biomass powerplant showed a significant S-SE wind component notdetectable by measurements made at the regional scale orby the other local meteorological stations. Sb, Sn, and Moshowed a very high degree of covariance and a statisticallysignificant correlation with traffic rate. No element concentrationsin the exposed thalli were correlated with distancefrom the biomass power plant, although Ti and Coconcentrations showed a significant correlation with the‘‘Potential Number of Times the Winds coming from thebiomass power plant Reach each exposure Site’’(PNTWRS). This value is calculated dividing the time(minutes) during the experimental trimester that the windblows from the power plant into each of the four geographicalsides by the time (minutes) the winds passingthrough the power plant take to reach the exposure sites ineach of the four geographical sides.) during the period ofthalli transplantation. Moreover, there were significantdifferences among clusters of sites with different levels ofenrichment of Ti, Co, Al, V, and Cu and a ‘‘local control’’group. These results, together with the high covariance ofthe Al–Ti and V–Co pairs, indicate an association betweenthe biomass power plant and spatial variation of Ti, Co, Al,and V levels in the transplanted lichens. The nature of thefuels used in the biomass power plant explains the spatialvariation of As, Cr, Cu, and Zn concentrations.