Local wind monitoring matched with lichen Pseudevernia furfuracea (L.) Zopf transplantation technique to assess the environmental impact of a biomass power plant

The potential environmental impact of a biomass power plant (BPP) was evaluated by transplanting thalli of the lichenPseudevernia furfuracea (L.) Zopf in the surrounding area for 3 months. Four meteorological stations were placed at four sites tomonitor local winds. At the end of the period, thalli were retrieved and electrical conductivity percentage (EC%), lipid peroxidation,lichen vitality, photosynthetic efficiency, chlorophylls, xanthophylls+carotenoids, OD435/OD415, and concentrations of someelements frequently emitted by BPPs were measured. A univariate-multivariate analysis revealed clusters of sites with dissimilar meanvalues of ecophysiological parameters. They were merged, when not significantly differing, and classified as different homogeneousecophysiological zones, one of which was considered an internal control for pigments, revealing a “complete recovery gradient” forthe photobiont. The parameter “potential number of times the winds passing through the BPP zone reach each site” was calculated.It showed a significant negative correlation with spatial variation of pigment amounts. As regards the mycobiont, both EC% and lipidperoxidation resulted in the formation of two zones with different degrees of increase compared to the lichen origin area (lack ofcomplete recovery). Most of the elements emitted by traffic and BPP correlated with EC% and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances,except Ti, which was negatively correlated with OD435/OD415.