High spatial resolution assessment of air quality in urban centres using lichen carbon, nitrogen and sulfur contents and stable-isotope-ratio signatures

作者：Daniel Niepsch, Leon J. Clarke, Jason Newton, Konstantinos Tzoulas, Gina Cavan · 发表于：Environmental Science and Pollution Research · 年份：2023 · DOI：10.1007/s11356-023-26652-8 · 被引用次数：12 · 研究领域：Atmospheric chemistry and aerosols、Air Quality and Health Impacts、Lichen and fungal ecology

Abstract Air pollution and poor air quality is impacting human health globally and is a major cause of respiratory and cardiovascular disease and damage to human organ systems. Automated air quality monitoring stations continuously record airborne pollutant concentrations, but are restricted in number, costly to maintain and cannot document all spatial variability of airborne pollutants. Biomonitors, such as lichens, are commonly used as an inexpensive alternative to assess the degree of pollution and monitor air quality. However, only a few studies combined lichen carbon, nitrogen and sulfur contents, with their stable-isotope-ratio signatures (δ 13 C, δ 15 N and δ 34 S values) to assess spatial variability of air quality and to ‘fingerprint’ potential pollution sources. In this study, a high-spatial resolution lichen biomonitoring approach (using Xanthoria parietina and P hyscia spp.) was applied to the City of Manchester (UK), the centre of the urban conurbation Greater Manchester, including considerations of its urban characteristics (e.g., building heights and traffic statistics), to investigate finer spatial detail urban air quality. Lichen wt% N and δ 15 N signatures, combined with lichen nitrate (NO 3 − ) and ammonium (NH 4 + ) concentrations, suggest a complex mixture of airborne NO x and NH x compounds across Manchester. In contrast, lichen S wt%, combined with δ 34 S strongly suggest anthropogenic sulfur sources, whereas C wt% and δ 13 C signatures were not conside...