Terrestrial Bryophytes as Indicators of Air Quality in Southeastern Ohio and Adjacent West Virginia
Copyright © 1979 Ohio Acad. Sci.
0030-0950/79/0005-0204/$2.00/0
TERRESTRIAL BRYOPHYTES AS INDICATORS OF AIR QUALITY IN SOUTHEASTERN OHIO AND ADJACENT WEST VIRGINIA1
MICHAEL B, STEFAN and EMANUEL D. RUDOLPH, Department of Botany, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210
Abstract. Bryophyte community as well as individual moss species characteristics on soil were examined to determine relationships with proximity to three coal-fired power plants emitting SO2 and a ferroalloy plant emitting chromium among their emission products. Woody vascular plant communities were relatively uniform, whereas bryophyte coverage was halved (from 3.36% to 1.47%) when comparing locations relatively distant from the plants with those closer. Other common community indices varied little with locality. Three moss species which showed the most consistent relationship to distance from the power plants, Dicranum scoparium, Leucobryum albidum, and Polytrichum ohioense, were mapped for presence or absence on 68 similar hillside habitats. D. scoparium and L. albidum consistently were absent in the area most influenced by the emission sources, while P. ohioense was less consistent in its absence. Presence or absence of indicator moss species proved more useful than community characteristics for indicating relative air quality. OHIO J. SCI. 79(5): 204, 1979 Bryophytes, as well as lichens, have been successfully used as indicators of air quality in a number of studies as reviewed by LeBlanc and Rao (1974). Some of these studies imply that increased SO2 concentrations are the major cause of observed reductions in cover values and decreases in the number of species present, although other pollutants such as heavy metals, NOX, HF, and O3 are often present. Most studies examined epiphytic species; however, terricolous bryophytes were used as both indicators of SO2 stress (Winner and Bewley 1978a, b) and airborne heavy metals (Ruhling and Tyler 1971). Previous distributional studies in
0030-0950/79/0005-0204/$2.00/0
TERRESTRIAL BRYOPHYTES AS INDICATORS OF AIR QUALITY IN SOUTHEASTERN OHIO AND ADJACENT WEST VIRGINIA1
MICHAEL B, STEFAN and EMANUEL D. RUDOLPH, Department of Botany, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210
Abstract. Bryophyte community as well as individual moss species characteristics on soil were examined to determine relationships with proximity to three coal-fired power plants emitting SO2 and a ferroalloy plant emitting chromium among their emission products. Woody vascular plant communities were relatively uniform, whereas bryophyte coverage was halved (from 3.36% to 1.47%) when comparing locations relatively distant from the plants with those closer. Other common community indices varied little with locality. Three moss species which showed the most consistent relationship to distance from the power plants, Dicranum scoparium, Leucobryum albidum, and Polytrichum ohioense, were mapped for presence or absence on 68 similar hillside habitats. D. scoparium and L. albidum consistently were absent in the area most influenced by the emission sources, while P. ohioense was less consistent in its absence. Presence or absence of indicator moss species proved more useful than community characteristics for indicating relative air quality. OHIO J. SCI. 79(5): 204, 1979 Bryophytes, as well as lichens, have been successfully used as indicators of air quality in a number of studies as reviewed by LeBlanc and Rao (1974). Some of these studies imply that increased SO2 concentrations are the major cause of observed reductions in cover values and decreases in the number of species present, although other pollutants such as heavy metals, NOX, HF, and O3 are often present. Most studies examined epiphytic species; however, terricolous bryophytes were used as both indicators of SO2 stress (Winner and Bewley 1978a, b) and airborne heavy metals (Ruhling and Tyler 1971). Previous distributional studies in
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