BIOACCUMULATION WITH LICHENS IN URBAN GREEN AREAS OF ASUNCIÓN, PARAGUAY: PRELIMINARY RESULTS

MARTÍNEZ, LORENA; DORIA, VANESSA; DÍAZ, RAÚL; ORTIGOSA, MARCOS; CANDIA, MICHAEL; MEDINA, LEONIDA; GALEANO, EDGAR; CABALLERO, RITA

Bonito

Congreso; INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR LICHENOLOGY 9TH SYMPOSIUM; 2021

Universidad Federal de Sergipe, Brasil

Air pollution is one of the main impacts associated with urban growth processes.Lichens have been widely used for the detection of polluting substances due to theirbioaccumulative capacity. The aim of this work is to quantify the air pollution level throughlichens in urban green areas of Asunción, Paraguay. Parmeliaceae family lichens were collectedand identified following regional taxonomic keys and routine methods. Quantification of Zn, Ni,Pb, Cu, Cd, Cr were conducted by atomic absorption spectroscopy, and S by turbidimetricmethods previously treated for its mineralization. 18 samples were collected in urban greenareas of Asunción, Paraguay. Two Samples from the Parque Nacional Ybycuí were selected asthe control. Correlograms, Pearson correlation tests, and RDA multivariate analysis were carriedin order to assess the general correlation patterns between the variables. S (250 - 3615 mg/kg)and Zn (16.00 - 87.32 mg/kg) concentration values were the highest. A positive correlation wasfound between Zn, Cu, Cd and Cr. Sites with significant contamination levels show high valuesof more than one pollutant, as RDA stands (R2 = 82%; P-value = 0.05). Preliminary results suggestthat sites have significant difference of bio-accumulated pollutants between urban green areasand control site. Taken together, these results provide evidence that urban green areas couldbe exposed to contamination sources in common. Further research should be undertaken toinvestigate the possible environmental factors associated with the observed pattern.