Lichen communities as a tool to map environmental condition in Champawatdistrict of Uttarakhand

Abstract

This paper deals with 17 lichen communities in Champawat district based on 149 species collected from fifteen localities of the district. An attempt has been made to explore the utility of lichen diversity for monitoring of air pollution in the region. Among the polluted sites, Chalthi having higher anthropogenic activates exhibit low lichen diversity of seven species, mostly dominated by members of lichen family Physciaceae, while non-polluted, Abbot Mont site exhibited the maximum lichen diversity represented by 37 species. Cluster analysis grouped all the species into 17 communities of lichens in district based on the level of pollution. The lichen communities encountered in the study area clearly indicates three categories (polluted, nonpolluted and moderate polluted) in accordance with their frequency of occurrence of lichens species/communities in different localities. In the present study Physcioid lichen community members were dominant at sites having higher pollution level. The cyanolichen communities such as Cyanophycean and Lobarian taxa were present in non polluted localities, while Parmelioid genera represented open thinned out forest having moderate pollution. Result shows that changes in sensitive community structure may be utilized as reliable indicator of air quality, which may be further used for carrying out future climate change studies in the area and also be targeted for monitoring efforts in a wide geographical area.